I Found Myself
by Himanochi
Summary: If you want to get to know someone, you have to know yourself first. Adrien thought he got to know himself through his alter-ego, Chat Noir, and had a chance to finally act like he really wanted to. Until he realized that his life, if as a normal civilian or as a superhero, is covered under masks, nonetheless.
1. Something in Between

Chapter 01: **Something in Between**

Adrien felt tired. Not because of any recent late-night photo shoots, which was the cause of this feeling most of the time, but simply because of the current weather.

The sky was filled with dark gray clouds, hiding the warm sunbeams, and left the people of Paris in a non-stop fear of rain. The still persistent winter made it only colder. Even though it was near the end of February, and the snow was already completely gone at this point, the temperature just wouldn't want to go up.

All of those facts made Adrien feel rather tired.

Usually, the weather didn't matter to him. The only thing that was affected, was his schedule - and sometimes this wasn't even a bad thing to him - but since he was chosen for the Black Cat Miraculous, its power had a certain influence on him.

One of them being tired whenever it would soon start to rain or just wanting to stay in his room all day, a big warm blanket wrapped around him, and doing absolutely nothing when it was cold. Aside from a little nap, of course.

And right now, it was cold _and_ it would soon start to rain. A rather bad combination in this state.

Adrien could only hope that no one decides to become a victim to Hawkmoth, while the weather was like this. In his civilian form, it was easy to ignore those little side effects. Sadly that didn't count for Chat Noir. All of his cat-like attitudes were even more present while he was transformed.

Besides he already spent the past two weeks with whatever his inner cat wanted him to do when he could. Now it was time for the human Adrien again.

It was Monday and the winter holidays were over. Which means he could finally go back to school. He knew that most of his classmates would show up with a bored expression on their faces but Adrien had a wide smile on his lips when he entered the school building. He could see all of his friends again.

Well, he saw Chloé during the holidays, but it would've been nice if he had seen Nino at least once. Or someone else from his class like, well, he couldn't really say who would want to spend their time with him.

Maybe Alya if Nino was also there? Or even Marinette?

The smile on his face slowly vanished from the thought about his black-haired classmate. Instead, he looked a little lost.

Marinette was nice, really nice, and he was sure that they would get along pretty well. They did by the time of the gaming competition and when he helped her with her granduncle, after all.

Adrien liked how confident she was when she stood up against Chloé's never stopping insults, or her creativity and passion when it comes to fashion and design. She made him curious about her since the very first day, and with the time this curiosity grew even stronger the more and more he learned about her.

But every time he talked to her himself, she had begun to stutter, make nervous gestures and the look in her eyes seemed like she wanted to run away the very second he laid his own eyes on her. It left him to feel confused and a little hurt, too.

He knew that she forgave him for that whole gum incident on his first day here, but it didn't seem like she wanted to have anything more to do with him. It hurts him that he has no clue what could bring her to act like that in his presence most of the time.

In the end, all he wanted was to be her friend. Was that too much? She didn't hate him, right? It was still a possibility. As long as he didn't know how exactly she felt about him, he wouldn't be able to approach her probably.

But he wanted to know her, right after Ladybug. He just didn't know if Marinette would want the same.

And right now he couldn't find a word to describe their relationship. It was kind of complicated, but that also sounds a bit too much. It was simple, but certainly not simple enough to stop those stupid thoughts from getting their way inside his head.

So he ended up calling it _something_.

Something in between.

That's what it was between him and Marinette. No strangers nor enemies, but no friends, either. Even though he had thought so on his second day at school when he lent her that black umbrella.

Or should he say 'believed so'? It wasn't true after all.

Or was it?

A deep sigh left through his slightly parted lips in frustration, when he walked into the almost empty classroom.

Adrien could see Max already sitting in his seat, phone in hand. He probably tries to convince Kim to come to school today. At least that was what had happened the last two holidays this year.

Rose and Juleka were also in their seats, talking about the others holiday. Adrien didn't want to eavesdrop - which was actually pretty hard considering his sharpened hearing - so he quickly focused on placing himself in his own seat right at the front.

He was a bit early, and Nino wouldn't show up in the next few minutes, so Adrien decided to read some notes from the previous classes. It wasn't like he would need to - thanks to all those years of homeschooling, he was actually a bit ahead of the things they were currently doing - but he couldn't think of anything else to fill the time with. And he really had to finally get out of this prison-like house, which he was supposed to call 'home', even if that means he would just sitting in his class and read about school subjects.

He tried to keep his focus on the written words before him, but after only five minutes of concentration, his ears caught a quiet sound behind him. It was a muffled yawn followed by the sound of shifting clothes. Adrien couldn't recall seeing someone in the seat behind him when he entered the class, so he turned around to see Marinette sleepily rub against her half closed eyes.

Did he really _not_ noticed her? Now he felt bad about himself.

Granted she usually wasn't this early. Actually, she never was. He shouldn't feel bad, that was unnecessary. He had a reason for not noticing her.

Besides, he should try to take this opportunity and talk to her. She seemed tired. Maybe she would talk with him the same way she does with everyone else when she couldn't notice who exactly he was? It was worth a try.

"Good morning, Marinette," he put the friendliest smile he was capable of on his lips. In hope, it would also reach his eyes.

Marinette tried to suppress another yawn, "Morning, Adrien." Her voice was more silent than usually, and her sky blue eyes were still closed, but she greeted him back. She greeted him without stuttering! The smile on Adrien's face grew wide and he hadn't to think about if the look in his eyes matched his expression, anymore. He knew it does.

He was just about to continue the conversation when Marinette's eyes suddenly snapped open. They stared at him in utterly shock and horror. A bit panicked, too. Adrien could feel his smile fade again.

"Adrien! Gornign! Morning! I-I mean good morning to you, too!" She paused for a moment, "I already said that!"

Adrien tried to hide his disappointment behind another friendly smile and forced his voice to sound rather amused. "Yeah, you did," he added a little chuckle, "You're usually not this early in school. Why now?"

"Oh, uh, that's the reason. I didn't want to be late again, so, uhm, I just came earlier! Even though I'm really not used to it." She chuckled nervously and gave him a toothy smile, which was obviously forced. Adrien could tell if someone presented him with a fake smile, after all, most of his smiles in his childhood looked like that, too. Now he had practice.

But he didn't say anything about it. Maybe it would ruin this _something_ he had with Marinette. He didn't want to risk it.

Also, he doesn't know if he was in the position to tell her something like that. It wasn't appropriate to tell someone their smile looked forced.

Marinette could be troubled by literally anything. What if she doesn't want to talk about it with him? Then he shouldn't ask in the first place. It would only make herself feel uncomfortable. He should just stop thinking about it, and focus on their actual conversation.

All of those thoughts passed his mind in a single second.

"So that's why you look so tired."

"I look tired?!" She squealed out before she hurriedly tried to hide her face behind her small hands.

Did he say something wrong? He did say something wrong, didn't he?

"Don't worry. It's okay," Adrien quickly reassured her, "It's the first day of school after two whole weeks. It's only natural that you are tired."

Marinette parted a few of her fingers in order to sheepishly look at him through her hands. Adrien smiled up at her and tilted his head a little to show a bit of his curiosity.

 _Besides_ , he added in thought, _I think it makes you look even cuter_. Adrien would say it out loud if he wouldn't be so afraid of saying something wrong again. So he just continued to smile at her, while Marinette slowly lowered her hands and straightened herself in her seat. A slight blush covered her cheeks and she flashed him a shy smile in response.

Normally their conversation would end here. Unless Alya and Nino would try to make it longer with switching topics for example. But both of them weren't here yet, so it would end.

But Adrien didn't want it to end.

Marinette looked a little bit more at ease. Maybe he was able to stretch the conversation himself?

He doesn't have much experience with it, but this could be a good practice, right? And practice makes perfect. He could ask her about her holiday or something. Rose and Juleka were talking about that, too, so it was a topic you could discuss with a friend, right?

Yes, he would talk to her about that. He wanted to know more about her, anyways. This was a perfect opportunity.

Adrien took a deep breath, "How-"

"Adrikins!"

Adrien tried his best to stop a groan from rising up in his throat when he heard a body dropping in the seat next to him followed by the feeling of two arms locked around his neck. Chloé attempted to pull him closer to her, but he managed to push her slightly away by grabbing her shoulders before any greater damage could be done.

He knew what Chloé wanted to do when she acts like that. She already destroyed his chance to talk with Marinette - which was currently busy with rolling her eyes at Chloé's behavior - he didn't want her to destroy even more for him.

"Good morning, Chloé," he smiled at her when he finally managed to pull her completely away from his body.

"It's so good to finally see you again! I've missed you so much, Adrikins," Chloé stared up at him with blinking eyelashes and slightly stretched lips. Adrien could hear Marinette quietly pretending to puke at that.

"Chloé, we saw each other on Thursday," he held up his hands to calm her down. She always overreacted about things like that, it kind of started to overwhelm him. Not that she _never_ was like that before, but since he was going to public school it got a little out of hand.

"Yeah, but that's three days ago," she pouted.

"I know, but-"

"Hey, Chloé," Marinette leaned over the edge of the table, steadying herself with her arms on the desk. She scowled in Chloé's direction. "Can't you take a hint?"

"Who asked you to speak, Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé crossed her arms in front of her, a fierce expression on her face.

"Did Adrien ask you to always through yourself on him, when you see him?" Marinette countered.

Adrien had to suppress an amused snort. This was Marinette's confident side. A little cheeky, too. It kind of reminds him of Ladybug, and he certainly liked to see it on Marinette if he was completely honest. Ladybug was a superhero, after all, she had to be confident. But there was something about Marinette that made this whole behavior appear even more impressive to him.

Especially when she acted kind of shy not even a minute ago.

"I know that he has nothing against it," Chloé snapped back, tilting her head up in a theatric manner.

"Well, then you have to be blind," Marinette responded, "The only reason why Adrien hasn't been directly telling you to back off, is because he is just too nice to do anything like that."

Chloé voiced an outraged gasp but didn't say anything in return. Instead, she stood from Nino's seat and walked to her own, all the way with a rather angry expression. Adrien followed her with a thoughtful gaze.

"I'm sorry," Marinette's voice caused him to quickly look at her, "Should I have, uh, stayed silent?" Her eyes were locked on her blank desk. Hands clasped together in front of her. She kind of seemed guilty to him.

Adrien shoots one last look in Chloé's direction before he hesitantly laid his hands on hers. This action induced Marinette's body to grow stiff under his touch. But she also focused her attention on him, a slight blush upon her cheeks again.

Adrien squeezed her hands reassuringly while flashing her an honest smile which was also supposed to say 'thank you'.

Marinette seemed to get his message. At least she released the breath she was holding and smiled slightly back at him.

Internally, Adrien was screaming from joy. Not because he was holding hands with Marinette and she was completely okay with it, - at least she didn't push him away yet - that was totally not the reason for it.

But because she thought he was nice. _Too_ nice even. That means she liked him, right? She didn't hate him. So they could be friends, right? Were they friends? It would be great if they were.

On the outside, Adrien didn't let anything relenting to his inner thoughts show in his expression. He appeared completely calm when he slowly lifted his hands from Marinette's. Still the previous smile on his lips.

It didn't fade for the next fifteen minutes.

Sadly, Adrien wasn't able to speak with Marinette again. Shortly after Chloé left them alone Alya showed up and dragged her best friend into a conversation, which Adrien didn't want to eavesdrop or interrupt. It was inappropriate.

So he focused on his notes again until Nino came, only two minutes before Mme. Bustier showed up, and their class started.

"I'm glad to see everyone returned in time," Mme. Bustier started. Her eyes lingered on Marinette a little longer than the other students, when she looked around the classroom, and Adrien could hear Marinette voicing a slightly nervous chuckle at that comment.

"Before we continue with our previous lesson, I'm supposed to make a quick announcement concerning the next six weeks," a few students started to whisper but were quickly silenced by a clap of Mme. Bustier's hands, "Our principal decided to take part in a school competition, in which each school has to write and perform their own school play. I know all of you already participated in a similar competition, although it isn't going to be filmed this time."

Adrien remembered the day of the Horrificator attack when Mylène turned into a villain. Even though their film didn't win anything, M. Damocles seemed to like their acting enough to try something similar again.

"Our class will work together with the other classes in your grade," Mme. Bustier continued to explain, "Everyone of you can work in a different field. For example, someone can be an actor on stage, another can help with the script or the background pictures. Of course we teachers will help you out if you need anything, but most of the work should be done by you students."

Adrien's classmates started to whisper again, a bit louder than the first time. He could also catch Alya's voice stating, "This is going to be _great_ ," in a cheerful tone.

He felt someone nudging his fist against his shoulder and turned to Nino, who faced him with an excited grin. Adrien returned the gesture and bumped his fist with Nino's, grinning back at him.

This whole acting thing would be something different. Also, Adrien's father would be forced to reduce his photo shoots and lessons in order for his son to prepare for the school play. With an acting role, he would probably have enough to do. It suits him the most, too.

After all, Adrien's been acting for a long time now.

"Please be quiet," Mme. Bustier silenced her students once again, "I haven't finished yet."

The excited voices, that filled the classroom, slowly faded. Mme. Bustier waited a moment longer before she finally came to the more important part.

"The preparations for the play will always occur after your lunch break and the meeting point is in our sports hall. All of you are supposed to come in the afternoon. Madame Mendeleiev and I are responsible for the organization and your contact persons for everything concerning the play," a muffled groan was released from most of the students by the mention of Mme. Mendeleiev's name, "The show is in six weeks, on March 31th, the last day before your spring break. So regular classes will be canceled on that day. If you have any questions about the competition, you can ask them later in the afternoon."

After that, the subject was dropped and Mme. Bustier finally begun with her lesson. Barely any students paid much attention to it, though. Most of them were busy with discussing the future play in hushed voices and hurried whispers.

Adrien could see Nino and Alya passing little notes back and forth from the corner of his eye. Both with a kind of sly smirk on their faces.

He didn't really know what to think about that. He figured, they probably decided already to be part of the script writers and were discussing their ideas for a good story, so he refused to pay any further concentration on those two. Instead, he was one of the students, who actually focused more on Mme. Bustier.

Or maybe it was just this feeling of responsibility when he had to absolve something, which forced him to keep being focused.

The time went slowly by until lunch break finally arrived and the whole classroom was almost empty in less than ten seconds. Mme. Bustier shook her head with a soft smile before she wished the remaining students a good lunch and left the room herself.

"Hey, dude," Adrien had just finished shoving his things inside his shoulder bag when Nino's voice caught his attention, "Do you have something scheduled or are you free for today's lunch?" The still persisting smirk on his best friend's face made Adrien raise an eyebrow in slight suspicion.

But he quickly checked his schedule in his mind, anyway.

"Nothing in particular," he said after a few seconds, "Only 'lunch at home' if that counts."

"Can you ditch it?" There was still this sly smirk on Nino's facial features, which made Adrien feel rather uncomfortable under the gaze of his friend.

 _What is he up to?_

"I don't know," he said honestly, "The Gorilla is probably waiting for me outside." He hesitated for a quick second before he continued, "Why do you ask?"

"Alya, Marinette and I wanted to spend the lunch together," Nino explained with a nod in the girl's direction, "and it would be great if we had your company, too."

Adrien's gaze flickered to the girls in the seats behind him. Both of them were smiling at him - Alya's expression was more of a smirk, though - and waited patiently for his answer. His eyes focused on Marinette when he started to speak again.

"Sure," a smile spread across his lips. Another chance to normally talk with Marinette, hopefully without any interruptions. Now there was a high possibility she thought about him as a friend, too, and friends are eating lunch together, right?

They would all sit together, while they were eating, talking, laughing and all those other things you were doing with your friends.

"Perfect! Then let's get going, guys," Alya said cheerfully and stood up from her seat. Nino and Marinette were quick to follow her, bags in their hands when Adrien realized he forgot something major important about his previous scenario.

"Wait," he stopped the others, "I don't have any lunch with me."

There goes his chance of experiencing a normal teenage situation. More normal school situation. You don't really have to be older than thirteen to experience things like that.

"It's okay," the soft tone of Marinette's voice caused Adrien to look at her immediately. He didn't know her voice could sound like that.

"We-we wanted to go to my parent's bakery, anyways. So you can just, uhm, eat something there. If-If you want to, that is," Marinette's cheeks were covered in a slight blush and she was looking at him with an equally soft smile on her lips, while a nervous chuckle escaped from her throat.

Adrien was pretty sure those lips would also _feel_ soft under someone's touch…

…wait, what?

 _Did I really just_ -

 _Okay, stop it_.

 _Don't think about that_.

 _Ignore it and act like nothing happened in your mind_.

"Really? Of course, I want to! Your parent's backing skills are impressive," Adrien said with a smooth grin on his face.

 _There we go_ , he mentally released a sigh of relief.

Marinette chuckled again, a little less nervous this time. "I'm sure they would love to hear that," the color of her cheeks grew a bit deeper before she quickly went outside the classroom.

"We better get going," Alya said with a grin, while she started to follow Marinette. Nino and Adrien were right behind her.

All the way to the entrance hall, Adrien tried to forget his previous thought about the, probably, soft lips of his classmate. It wasn't like this was the first time a thought like that appeared in his mind - and certainly not the first time it contained Marinette - but it still kind of caught him off guard.

It's true, he was _interested_ in her and, _yes_ , she was also pretty cute in his eyes, but only as a _friend_! Nothing more. Anything beyond friendship was reserved for Ladybug.

Adrien shot a quick glance in Marinette's direction.

She and Alya walked a bit ahead and seemed to talk about something, but they were too quiet for him to hear. At least as long as he didn't concentrate on it, sharpened senses and all. Marinette had still a slight hint of a blush on her cheeks, but she smiled happily at her best friend.

 _Her smile_ …

Adrien shook his head. He definitely had to stop thinking, before it got completely out of hand. So he shoved his thoughts in an entirely different direction.

"What are we going to do if the Gorilla is already outside?" he asked, while he turned his head to Nino, "He won't just let me go elsewhere when he sees me."

Nino hummed in thought, "What if I told him you would spend the lunch break in the library? For extra studying, you know?"

Adrien remained silent for a moment, "I think that could work. As long as he doesn't notice me."

"Good! Then just leave it to me," his best friend gave Adrien a light bump against his shoulder, a big grin on his face.

By the time the little group reached the big front door of the school, they hid on one side and peeked over the edge of the door to the sidewalk. Just as Adrien predicted, the Gorilla stood in front of his silver car, waiting.

"I just hope he'll really drive away," Adrien muttered more to himself.

"Don't worry, dude," Nino reassured him, "I bet he has better things to do than just wait here all day."

"Actually, no," the other three flashed him a confused expression. "His only job is to protect me from any possible danger. And he gets paid for hours," Adrien explained with a shrug.

"Sounds like a pretty boring job to me," Alya commented.

"So he'll just extend his paycheck?" Marinette asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably," Adrien said with another shrug.

"Well if he isn't going to drive away, I'll have to distract him long enough so you can sneak to the bakery," Nino sets up his new plan.

"Let me know if you need help with that," Alya offered with a smirk on her face.

"Thanks," Nino bumped his fist with Alya's before he made his way outside the school and walked over to Adrien's bodyguard.

The three classmates observed how the Gorilla looked down at Nino with an unreadable expression on his face when the young DJ raised his voice. Their current position was too far away for any words to reach their ears, so Marinette and Alya just stared at the scene before them.

Adrien, on the other hand, focused his senses on Nino. He couldn't hear him as clear as he would in his transformation, but it was enough.

"-yourself a good day and relax," Nino's voice echoed in Adrien's ears. If the Gorilla wouldn't look so intimidating Nino would've given him a friendly pat on his arm.

The sturdy man only uttered an unpleasant grunt in response and focused his gaze back at the entrance. Adrien quickly took a step back from the door, in hope the Gorilla didn't recognize him. He even held his breath for a second as a reflex. The girls stopped spying and removed themselves from the Gorilla's field of view.

"I don't think he'll leave," Adrien said after another moment of tensed silence between them.

Right after he finished his sentence, Alya's phone gave a small buzz of itself.

"Guess that's my sign," she said after a quick look on the screen, "Make sure to escort Adrien to the bakery, Marinette."

"Huh? Wha-what?" was Marinette's only response before Alya flashed her best friend a wink and dashed out of the school building, phone in hand.

Adrien could hear Alya feigning excitement as she claimed to be interested in bodyguarding and if she could have an interview with the Gorilla, who looked pretty overwhelmed by her sudden appearance. She practically shoved her smartphone in his surprised face with a satisfied grin.

"I still doubt we can go through the front door, though," Adrien said with a grin of his own, which he just couldn't suppress. He never saw such an expression on his bodyguard's face.

"Ma-maybe we can, uh, climb out a window in one of the basement classrooms?" Marinette didn't look at him as she spoke. Instead, she nervously fidgeted with her hands.

Adrien could feel another wave of disappointment and hurt soar up in his chest. She was nervous again. Only because they were alone.

At least he thought that's the reason. She wasn't nervous when Alya was still here, after all.

But he didn't let her see those feelings.

"That's a great idea," he exclaimed, flashed her an honest smile - because even if she was nervous, that idea helped a lot - and instantly made his way to one of the classes on the side of the building.

He could hear Marinette's steps right after him.

When Adrien peeked into the first classroom, he made sure that no one was still inside. They were lucky and so he didn't hesitate to wave Marinette to come after him.

The window on the end of the room was almost on the direct opposite side of the bakery. Slowly, as if to make sure they couldn't get caught, Adrien opened the window. The only risk they'll have was when they would try to enter the bakery. If they were fast enough, they could make it.

Adrien turned around to face Marinette, "We shouldn't have a lot of problems. Are you ready?"

Marinette only gave him a nod in response.

He saw back outside the window, checked if any civilians were nearby before he stepped up at the windowsill and hopped down on the sidewalk.

However, he didn't expect the pressure that was suddenly pushing against his body. The cold breeze, together with the sensation of the cool air around him, made his limbs feel stiff and tired. The desire to have a warm blanket wrapped around him, and take a quick nap for probably two or three hours, came back into his head at once. Adrien had no doubts that it was caused by the sudden change of temperature.

He desperately tried to focus on anything else, when he heard a loud crash behind him. When he turned around he saw Marinette sitting on the ground, one hand brushing slightly over her rear.

"Are you all right?" he offered her a hand.

"Y-yes, thank you," she gladly accepted his help and Adrien pulled her up, so she could stand again. "Just… spaced a bit out for a moment."

Adrien gave her an amused little chuckle, "We shouldn't waste so much time or our lunch break will be over as soon as we finally get to your parent's bakery." He quickly walked along the side of the building, still with Marinette's hand on his own, and risked a small glance to the school front.

The Gorilla was still distracted. Nino - or Alya, probably - had pushed the boy's orange headphones on the bodyguard's head. The man had actually closed his eyes and slightly nodded his head back and forth.

Whatever those two teenagers in front of him did to get him in that state, it was perfect.

Nino must've noticed Adrien's staring, because he slightly turned around and flashed his best friend a grin, together with a thump up. Adrien grinned quickly back before he tightened his grasp at Marinette's hand and made his way across the street, trailing her after him.

He didn't hesitate for a second when he finally reached the door.

Adrien looked around the inside of the bakery only to find no customers in it and so Marinette's father behind the counter was the only one in the room, which was filled with the sweet scents of pastries, fresh bread, and vanilla.

Although the last one belonged probably only to Marinette.

By the thought of his classmate, which was currently trying to catch her breath from the sudden speed he dragged her into, Adrien realized that he still hold onto her hand. He quickly let go of it, hoping whether she nor her father noticed the previous connection between them.

"Ah, Marinette," her father greeted, "I was wondering when you would finally show up." The tall man's gaze flickered to Adrien and made the boy slightly stiff under his stare. "Your name was Adrien, right? I remember you from the gaming competition," he eventually said, flashing him a bright and welcoming smile.

"Yeah, that's right," Adrien said, relieved, with an equally bright smile on his lips. He would've never thought Marinette's parents actually remembered him. Or her father, at least. He didn't know about her mother yet.

"Can we have four slices of your new cake creation, papa?" Marinette asked while she was going up to the counter, "Alya and Nino should be here every second now, too."

"Of course. There should still be one in the kitchen upstairs," he pointed to the door to the staircase, "Just ask Sabine for it."

"Thank you, papa," Marinette beamed and pressed a quick kiss on her father's cheek.

Adrien could feel jealousy rising up in his chest, but didn't show anything of it to the other ones in the room. It wasn't their fault. They were just a happy family.

Marinette gestured him to follow her and the two walked to the background of the small shop. When they reached the door to the kitchen, Adrien could hear the faint chiming of the doorbell. Alya and Nino must have entered.

He couldn't focus further on the sound of voices below him, however, when Marinette's mother suddenly stood in front of him. A wide smile on her face, just as welcoming as the one of her husband before.

"Adrien! It's nice to see you again," she greeted him.

 _So she remembers me, too_.

Adrien felt a small amount of warmth soar up inside him.

 _Marinette's parents are caring_.

There was still this slight sting of jealousy.

"It's nice to see you too, Madame Cheng," he said, smiling back at the smaller woman in front of him.

"Please, just call me Sabine," she waved his courtesy away, "Otherwise I'd feel so old." She chuckled. The sound reminded him of Marinette's own chuckling.

"Hello, Sabine," a voice said behind Adrien and the boy quickly turned around to see Alya and Nino walking up the stairs, the former waving friendly at the dark-haired woman.

They exchanged quick greetings before Marinette called them all to sit at the table and eat their lunch. Her father's new cake creation had a blueberry flavor with a sugary cream attached to the berries.

Adrien didn't dare himself to eat his whole slice of the cake, because of his model diet, but he ate enough to say it was one of the best cakes he ever had the pleasure of being able to taste. Not that there would be many options.

Their conversation went from how he and Marinette made it out of the school building - for an unknown reason to Adrien, both Alya and Nino had a smirk on their faces, when starting the topic but it quickly vanished after he and Marinette explained their window escape - to the upcoming 'school play lesson' in the afternoon.

"So," Alya started, "Do you already know what you want to do for this thing?" Her gaze flashed along the other three teenagers at the table.

"Well I can't film this time," Nino eventually said, "So I was thinking of doing the background music instead. If we'll be using one, of course."

"That sounds like something you'd do," Adrien said with a grin in his best friend's direction.

"What about you, dude?"

"Probably acting again," he answered with a shrug.

 _And hoping I'll have enough to do to get my schedule a bit lighter_ , he added in his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, you were pretty good at the time of the film competition," Alya complimented him.

"Thanks," Adrien's gaze flew to Marinette, which was currently occupied with stabbing her fork inside her slice of cake, seemingly lost in her thoughts. "What about you, Marinette?"

"Huh?!" she squeaked out, looking a bit startled. When her eyes looked into his, her cheeks turned pink and she quickly locked her gaze back at the pastry in front of her. "I, uh, I was thinking about de-designing the costumes a-and… stuff like that," she eventually answered after a few seconds.

"I'm sure you would do a great job with that," Adrien presented her a smile, but she didn't look at him. Only shifted nervously back and forth in her chair.

"Th-thank you, Adrien," she eventually said, still avoiding his gaze.

 _Did I say something wrong again?_

"With the designs, I already saw from you, I'm sure those costumes will look beautiful."

This finally got her to look up at him, still with a pink blush upon her cheeks. She watched him with slightly wide eyes, until she raised her voice again, "Do you really think so?"

"Of course, you're talented," it was his honest opinion. So he flashed her the most soothing smile he was capable of.

She returned it, after a short moment of silence, with the sweetest smile he has ever seen on her and an excited glint in her sky blue eyes.

Adrien could have sworn his heart stopped for a second at the sight of it, only to double its speed at the very same moment.

 _Huh_ , he thought to himself, _this is new_.

"I'm going to write the script," Alya forced the attention back to her and Adrien took the opportunity to gather his thoughts a bit, "I'll make sure to write a really exciting one!" With a gaze in Nino's direction, she added, "And I won't let someone add any unnecessary kiss scenes this time."

"Sorry," Nino apologized quickly with a toothy grin on his face.

 _Unnecessary?_ Adrien's thoughts just appeared in his head again.

 _With Chloé, yes_.

 _But with Marinette_ -

He almost slapped himself before his mind could finish the sentence.

What was wrong with him all of a sudden?

Adrien trailed his eyes around the room to find a good distraction for him when he caught sight of the time. They would have to be in the sports hall in a few minutes.

Good!

"We should go back to school or we'll be late," he said, looking to the others but slightly avoiding Marinette's gaze, "And Madame Mendeleiev is one of the teachers for the play."

After a glance at the clock, the teenagers stood from the table. Sabine reassured them that she would take care of the dishes and send them downstairs, but Marinette still gave her mother a small kiss on the cheek.

Adrien hid his jealousy once again.

On the way back to the school building the girls walked a bit ahead, so Adrien had the perfect view at the back of Marinette's head.

While he was staring at her, completely oblivious to Nino's knowing smirk, he thought about the last few interactions between him and her.

In the morning, she was nervous. A bit awkward, too. But she stood up against Chloé. This time even for him. So he thought they were friends in her eyes, too.

At the start of the lunch break she had this soft tone in her voice, but as soon as they were alone she seemed uncomfortable. Did she really consider him a friend?

And just a few minutes ago there was this sweet smile on her lips. The one that did strange things to his heartbeat. But she smiled like that at him, so she couldn't hate him, right?

At least he considered her as a friend. A friend that he really wanted to know better.

Who knows? Maybe she actually wanted to know him, too. And if they could start talking more often together, he was sure they would make a great couple in the end.

…Couple?

Was that the right word for it?

He wasn't really sure about that.

But they didn't seem like friends anyway. No one would Marinette and him describe as 'friends'.

Maybe he should just go back to the _something_ until he got any confirmation about this whole thing from Marinette herself?

In that exact moment, the sound of Marinette's laugh reached his ears. She tried to suppress it but failed miserably. It made the whole sound even cuter for him. And while the beat of his heart seemed to double for the second time that day, his thoughts made their way back into his head.

 _Yes_ , Adrien thought to himself, _there is definitely_ something _between me and Marinette_.

* * *

 **A/N** : _Whoa. I would've never thought the first chapter would end up to be almost ten pages long…_ xD

 _This is actually the first time I'm writing a fanfiction in English, so I hope there are not_ _ **too**_ _many grammar mistakes or anything like that. I did my best at the very least!_

 _Also, I feel like I should point this out:_

 _The first part of this fic will be mostly fluff (with a bit sprinkles of social anxiety here and there)._

 _But as soon as I reach a certain plot point it will contain things like identity issues, self-confidence issues and slight depression (maybe more than 'slight', but I'm not sure about that yet)._

 _Just so you've been warned. In the end, I don't know if someone wants to read those kinds of things._

 _Anyways!_

 _I'm really happy to finally write this idea and I hope at least one person is interested in it._ ^-^

 _Have a nice day, whoever is reading this right now!_


	2. Played Roles

Chapter 02: **Played Roles**

Adrien knew immediately that they wouldn't have any sports lessons in the next six weeks.

When he, Nino, Alya, and Marinette arrived at the big hall, they were greeted with the sight of several chair rows in front of a long stage on the opposite side. Small stairs led to the wooden floor of the stage and big red curtains hung from each side. On top of the ceiling joists were small spotlights installed and along the chairs stood a few black loudspeakers.

"Looks like they already built everything up," Alya commented while she looked around the hall, "This seems like a really large thing. I wonder if the whole equipment actually belongs to our school."

"I'm relieved they didn't make us do _literally_ everything," Marinette said, gaze locked on the high placed spotlights.

Adrien followed the direction of her eyes and felt the same relive Marinette's voice sounded like. Even though he wasn't afraid of heights, he still wouldn't want to climb up at the joists and place those lights in the right position.

"We have speakers," Adrien's attention turned to his best friend, "Do you think we will actually have background music?" A glint of hope and anticipation flickered in Nino's golden brown eyes.

"Well, I'm sure we'll know that in a few minutes," Adrien gestured to the big clock on the wall. The lunch break was almost over.

After he finished his sentence, Mme. Bustier and Mme. Mendeleiev appeared in the wide door. The latter loudly cleared her throat.

"Don't stand in the way and get yourselves a seat," Mme. Mendeleiev ordered the four friends with a slight scowl.

They all presented a somewhat apologetic smile in the teacher's direction before they quickly went further into the hall and seated themselves in one of the chair rows, near some of their classmates. Almost everyone was already there.

Adrien noticed how every conversation contained either the play itself or what several of the students would like to do for it. He also caught a few voices he never heard before. Those had to belong to some teenagers from the other class in their grade.

He certainly didn't know _anything_ about a single one of them, - aside from a few previous akumatized villains, but that didn't really count for him - and at the thought to work together with complete strangers for six whole weeks, he felt a certain self-consciousness creeping up in his chest.

 _Calm down_ , Adrien told himself in thought, _you're going to get to know them in six weeks._

 _No problem._

Expect for the fact that he wasn't good in 'getting to know someone' - Marinette was the perfect example for that - but he couldn't allow himself to lose his composure in front of the whole grade. He didn't gain complete self-control only to throw it all away in the end.

Adrien took a deep, calming breath through his nose and laid an excited expression on his features, together with his practiced camera smile. The only thing he was worried about were the displayed feelings in his eyes. He hadn't mastered the control over his emerald green, yet. At least everything else should be just fine.

The school bell chimed in the same moment when Kim and Max dashed into the sports hall, the former shouted an exaggerated 'save'.

"Be silent and get yourselves a seat!" Mme. Mendeleiev shouted in response. The two friends quickly sat next to Alix and kept their mouths completely closed as soon as the teachers on the stage started to talk about the competition and play.

"As you all should already know by now, this is a school competition," Mme. Bustier started, "The school with the best play will be the winner. The price will be the whole equipment you see in this hall and a great amount of money for our school."

Adrien heard Alya whisper "I _knew_ it!" at the equipment part.

"All of you are supposed to do something for this play, but first we have some other things to tell you," Mme. Bustier continued, "All lessons after your lunch break will be canceled for the next six weeks. In this time you're free to do everything that could help to make the play better, as long as it is related to your previous settled role in this. Expect for the actors. They have to meet with us in the sports hall and practice until the school day is over."

That was something Adrien could deal with. He doubted that he would need much practice, though.

"On March 31th all classes on this day will be canceled in order for final preparations for the play in the afternoon," Adrien's class teacher explained, "About the theme of our play, we have several small papers in this box-" - she lifted a white box up for everyone to see - "-and Madame Mendeleiev will now draw one of them. This is mostly important for the ones of you that want to write the script." With that, the red-haired teacher turned to her colleague and presented her the box.

Mme. Mendeleiev took her time to choose one of the little white papers and fold it open to read the written words on it. "Fairy tale," she read out loud with a somewhat bored expression.

The hall was silent for a moment until the first few students started to whisper.

"Fairy tale," Adrien could Alya hear, hissing, "How can I make something exciting with 'fairy tale'?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Marinette reassured her, "You always do."

"Well, I can't deny that."

"Silence!" Mme. Mendeleiev made the teenagers stop their conversations in an instant.

"You don't have to use an original fairy tale," Mme. Bustier quickly eased the tension after Mme. Mendeleiev's shout, "As long as it fits into the category 'fairy tale', everything is okay."

"I suppose I can work with _that_ , "Alya murmured.

"We have to report the theme of our play to the jury of the competition. Since every school can end up with a different theme, they have to create different, but still fair, ways of judging the plays," Mme. Bustier explained.

"Anyways, it's time to give you kids your work," Mme. Mendeleiev said while she looked down on a clipboard in her left hand. "We need the most students as actors, a few to create and write the story and script, several to draw the background pictures and provide specific equipment for the show, some to manage the music, sound effects, and the light, and, at last, a few that can help with the costumes," she took her eyes of the clipboard and gazed at the students in front of her, "Any questions?"

No one said a single word. In fact, they didn't even move. The look in Mme. Mendeleiev's eyes were enough to silence even twenty-eight teenagers at once.

"Good," she said with a light hint of a smirk at one end of her lips. "Then you'll just raise your hand on the part of the play you want to work on," she held up a pen in her other hand and glanced back at the clipboard, "Who wants to write the story and script?"

Alya raised her hand immediately, together with Rose and three other students, which Adrien didn't know a single name of. Mme. Mendeleiev quickly wrote all the names down.

"Who wants to draw the background and help with other equipment?"

Adrien needed to look around if he wanted to see who raised their hand. Most of them sat behind him or were probably too shy to bring more attention to them than only Mme. Mendeleiev's. He recognized Nathaniel as one of them.

 _Of course_ , he thought, _even his Akuma was related to drawing_.

Other than Nathaniel's hand, Adrien also noticed Sabrina's, Alix's and Kim's, as well as two students that were unknown to him and the winner of the KIDZ+ weather girl contest.

 _What was her name again?_

 _Something like Mirei?_

 _Mireille?_

"Who helps with the costumes?"

Adrien's eyes flickered instantly in Marinette's direction after Mme. Mendeleiev finished her sentence. By the sight of her, raising her arm over her head, - only hesitating for a single second - he felt kind of proud of her.

He wanted more people to see her amazing designs and creativity. The mere thought of Marinette, getting a chance to show off her abilities, left him in anticipation for her work.

It made him smile, without noticing it.

And it was an honest smile.

Aside from Marinette, the only other one from their class was Juleka, who volunteered to take care of the actor's costumes. One of the two other students was a former akumatized villain, but Adrien almost didn't recognize him because his attention partially still laid on Marinette's excited expression.

"Who works with the sounds and light?"

The quick movement beside him finally made Adrien lift his gaze from Marinette. He saw Nino, with a wide smile on his face and a raised hand, and couldn't suppress his own smile at Nino's happy appearance.

Adrien bumped his fist into his best friend's shoulder and Nino flashed him an excited grin in return.

Max and another boy were the only ones, who wanted to work with the same things as Nino.

"And now, we only have the actors left," Mme. Mendeleiev said and looked around the nine raised hands.

Adrien's was one of them. He saw Chloé's a few rows in front of him, too.

 _Of course, she had to do something where everyone could see her_.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Mylène and Ivan seemed to act, too. Aside from them, Adrien only recognized a former Akuma - Stormy Weather, if he remembered her name correctly - but no one of the other four students looked familiar to him.

Mme. Mendeleiev finished writing all names on her clipboard before she gave precise orders for the next hours. "All of you, that haven't decided to act or control the technical equipment, are going to start making plans for their subject until the school day is over. Also, for the ones that write the script, your deadline is on next Monday. So you better get started," she waved to the door and the majority of the students quickly left the hall.

Adrien turned in Marinette's direction, with the intention to wish her good luck for the start, but she was already on her way to the doors. Happily chatting with Alya.

Even though that would have been a very short conversation, it made him feel slightly disappointed. A short interaction would still be better than none at all.

And he would've meant it.

"Is there a reason why you're so blatantly staring at Marinette for the whole day?" when Adrien turned back to Nino, his best friend faced him with a sly smirk. "Did a sudden realization hit you during the holidays?" even the tone of his voice sounded sly.

"What are you talking about?" Adrien raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh, nothing," Nino nudged his elbow in Adrien's side, "Just tell me if you need help with anything."

This confused him even more, but before he could go further into it, he was silenced by Mme. Mendeleiev's next orders.

"The three of you that wanted to take care of the technical equipment are coming with me," Nino's smirk vanished immediately, "Madame Bustier is taking care of the actors."

Nino let a groan escape his throat. Adrien gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder when his best friend stood up and followed Mme. Mendeleiev, together with Max and the other boy, behind the black curtain on the backside of the wooden stage.

Once they were gone, Mme. Bustier seated herself at the edge of the stage and looked around the remaining students, "We should all sit a bit closer, don't you think?" She gestured to the chairs in front of her with a friendly smile and the teenagers started to make their way to the front row.

Adrien placed himself at the end of the students after he successfully avoided Chloé's attention. To his right sat no one, but all three seats to his left between him and one of the only persons he knew - Mylène in this case - were filled with unknown faces to him. It made him somehow nervous, so he shifted as far away from the student next to him as possible and sat done on the edge of his chair.

It was a bit uncomfortable, but he would have to deal with this for now.

"First, I want to ask if someone of you already has experience with acting on a stage or in front of a slightly bigger crowd," Mme. Bustier started, "If you had acting lessons for a longer time in your life, then that's helpful too."

The girl right next to Adrien raised her hand immediately, as well as Mylène and Chloé. Adrien knew the latter just lied about that with a stupid, satisfied grin on her face.

Maybe she figured those with experience would get a bigger role and automatically more attention?

Yeah, that was probably her train of thought.

Adrien decided not to think about the actions of his childhood friend and rather considered if he should raise his hand, too.

He may not have any experience with acting in theater or on a stage, but he still had a lot of practice in acting, nonetheless. And he didn't want any of the inexperienced boys in their group to play a major role and fail at it in the end. Considered the high possibility of Akumas that could result from their failure, he should probably save them from any possible harm to their emotions.

Before he could regret his decision, he lifted his hand up above his head.

"Good, then the four of you will likely be chosen to play a lead role," Mme. Bustier said.

Chloé's satisfied look only deepened itself further on her features.

"We don't have any script or exact roles to practice with, yet," she continued, "So I figured we should just start with regular acting practice, like improvising. Does someone have any questions?"

Chloé immediately raised her hand.

"Yes, Chloé?"

"How are the roles for the actual show going to be picked?" The tone of her voice sounded kind of impatient.

"Well, since the writers know the characters better than me, they are going to pick the perfect role for everyone," their teacher explained, "And they will also give you advice on how they imagined a certain line to be pronounced, for example. They'll still have work to do once they finished the script."

Chloé didn't seem to be very pleased with that answer. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and opened her mouth to give Mme. Bustier a probably snappy reply, when suddenly…

…the sound of an explosion burst through the whole room from the black loudspeakers along the walls.

Chloé's attempt to speak ended in a scared scream and the blonde flinched just enough to fall backward, dragging the chair with her to the floor and in front of the second chair row.

The look on Chloé's face was one of the most amusing things Adrien had ever seen, plus the only worry she had after that was if her hair was still in place. He tried his best to stifle his laughter, but the laughs from the other students weren't really helpful.  
"Sorry!" came an equally amused apology from behind the black curtain at the back of the stage after the explosion sound was silenced, which sounded suspiciously a lot like Nino.

Adrien took a deep breath to remove the still persisting grin on his face when Chloé put her chair back up and sat down again.

She mumbled something inaudible while she tried to fix a couple strands of her hair that were hanging into her face. A few teenagers from the other class were still giggling, and Chloé's patience with their amusement over her was quickly running out.

"What's so funny?!" she blurted out eventually, "Shouldn't you all be more concerned if everything is okay with me?! I just fell from a chair! To the hard and dirty ground!"

The black-haired girl next to Adrien flinched at the sudden shout and stopped her giggles with an intimidated gasp. She clearly didn't expect that outraged tone in Chloé's voice. Her classmates seemed to be taken aback for the same reason.

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to-"

"I don't want to hear any stupid apologies from you," Chloé turned away from the black-haired girl and tilted her head in the same manner as in the morning when Marinette told her to back off around Adrien. The memory of it almost made him smile if Chloé's behavior wouldn't bother him so much right now.

The girl to Adrien's left slightly flinched again. Her hand fidgeted with a small pendant attached to the silver chain around her neck. She was clearly uncomfortable with Chloé's reaction to her stuttered apology.

 _If Marinette was here, she would defend her. Even if she didn't know her._

Suddenly, he wished those black strands beside him would belong to Marinette.

On the other hand, it made him think if he should step up for her. Just like his cute classmate would do it.

Adrien locked his gaze at Chloé's profile. She was still annoyed from all the giggling, even though it stopped completely after her outburst.

Maybe he could tell her to stop being so stubborn and inconsiderate towards other people's feelings?

It would stop a lot of possible future Akuma attacks, after all.

He glanced back at the girl beside him. She shifted nervously from side to side in her chair, and still kept her grasp around the little pendant.

His eyes flew back to Chloé, back to the girl, back to Chloé.

Meanwhile, his mind went to memories about Marinette, how she stood up against Adrien's childhood friend - _only_ friend a few months ago - and how she defended every single one of the mayor's daughter's targets.

Adrien finally stopped his eyes on Chloé.

 _I can't._

 _I'm not supposed to._

 _Adrien doesn't defend people against his oldest friend._

 _Chat did, but not Adrien._

He suppressed a defeated sigh from escaping his throat.

"Chloé, Mylène," Mme. Bustier caught the students attention again, "Since you two already have experience, would you mind to demonstrate a little improvising practice?"

Chloé stood up immediately, that wide grin on her face returned at the same time, and she made her way up the small stairs on the side of the stage. Adrien saw Ivan patting Mylène's back in a reassuring manner before she followed her momentarily practice partner.

After a quick introduction of a scene, the two did their best to act as good as possible. Though, Chloé's acting was more like her usual behavior. With that, she would clearly get a villain role - if there would be one, of course - and Adrien was sure she wouldn't appreciate that. But it'll suit her the most if she wanted or not.

Adrien ignored the scene on stage after a few minutes when he noticed that the girl beside him still looked uncomfortable in her spot. The other ones from her class had already relaxed again, but she seemed like she couldn't just forget about it as if nothing happened.

Maybe… maybe he could calm her down a bit?

He already didn't defend her, but helping someone to gather their feelings again was something he could do, right?

After all, it was his duty as Chat Noir to protect the people of Paris. And protecting them from any possible vulnerability to Hawkmoth should be considered as one of his duties, too, right?

Well, he wasn't Chat right now, but he could still try to help her. It was a way to make friends. He could actually try to make friends with her.

Also, didn't do Marinette the same?

After defending Chloé's target, she would make sure that the blonde's victims were mentally okay.

 _She really cares a lot about other people._

Maybe he could follow her example?

Adrien breathed in and out. A second time, in and out. A third time. Fourth. … Okay, he could do that. Just a few calming words.

If he used some previous words from Marinette, surely everything would be just fine.

He leaned over to the black-haired girl, just enough so she could hear him, when he whispered, "Hey."

The girl flinched again from the sudden voice and jerked her head in his direction, eyes wide. He probably scared her a bit with that.

Adrien scolded himself in thought. He wanted to calm her, not frighten her.

He quickly eased his expression with a soothing smile, "Sorry, I didn't want to scare you."

The girl looked him rapidly up and down, still some hints from the shock on her face.

This wasn't going like he had hoped it to go.

Was he doing something wrong?

Should he just continue to talk?

Or wait for any kind of answer from her?

He didn't think this would be so nerve-racking.

Adrien tried to remember a few from Marinette's words when she was in such a situation. It seemed always so easy for her.

"Don't let Chloé's words infect you too much. She is always a bit… complicated," he still couldn't bring himself to say bad things about his friend.

The girl in front of him relaxed a bit and released the breath she was holding. She was silent for another few seconds before she eventually spoke up, "It's okay. I just can't really handle it when people get angry at me." She lowered her sight to her hands which let go of the pendant and were now laying in her lap, fingers constantly tapping against each other.

Adrien would have agreed, but since he had become Chat Noir it was almost a daily routine to upset someone and annoy them as much as possible. Actually, he had to admit that it was a lot of fun once you got used to it.

Still, he decided to act like he would have before his encounter with Plagg.

"I know what you mean," he nodded for reassurance, "But she doesn't really mean it. In a few minutes, she'll forget about it completely." Mostly because such a 'common, plain girl' wasn't worth her attention if she wouldn't do anything else to upset her, - which she clearly wouldn't dare to do a second time - but Adrien thought he could keep that little detail to himself.

The girl took a deep breath and made an understanding hum as a sign she heard his words. She hesitated for a second when she turned to him again and flashed him a grateful smile. "Thank you for worrying about me, though."

He smiled back, "Well, I know that her words can infect people's feelings a bit too much." The amount of Akumas she caused was evidence enough.

She looked him up and down again, an unspoken question forming on her face. Adrien knew that look. In a few seconds, he would get asked if he really was the son of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste.

"Are you Adrien Agreste?" and there it was. At least she just seemed to be curious, not like almost any other fangirl of him.

"Yes, I am," he still kept his smile in her direction.

Adrien suspected her to start squealing and get overly excited about the fact that she was sitting right next to a famous model, whose face was plastered all over Paris, but instead, she just let out an amused huff.

His smile fell and he raised a questioning eyebrow.

After a few seconds, she quickly said, "My best friend is a huge fan of you. She would be fearing to faint if she was in my place right now."

That sounded more like his usual fangirls. "And you don't?" mostly they came in groups, after all.

"I have a boyfriend I want to keep," she grinned, brown eyes sparkling with another wave of amusement.

Now it was his turn to huff.

"Good answer," and with that he assumed the conversation to be over. He turned back in the direction of the stage and watched as Chloé yelled at Mylène that she couldn't just try to open an imaginary glass of cucumbers because there was a high possibility one of her nails would get a crack. He almost rolled his eyes.

Not a second later, he saw an outstretched hand making its way into his field of view. He followed it with his green eyes and landed again on the face of the black-haired brown-eyed girl beside him. The look on his face must have been very confused - just like he felt - because she tried hard to suppress another wave of giggles when she looked up at him.

She stopped it by quietly clearing her throat.  
"My name is Alina," she smiled at him and held her hand further in his direction.

Did she want him to shake it?

"What happened to your boyfriend?" he raised an eyebrow again.

"He doesn't have anything against friendship," she shrugged.

Friendship.

She wanted to be friends with him.

He just managed to become friends with someone.

On his own.

Without help.

A happy smile broke over his features. He quickly took Alina's hand in his and shook it. Rather formal, but he blamed all the adults he had to work with as a model for this - more or less - habit. "Nice to meet you, Alina," he smiled back at her.

"Likewise," she let go of his hand and focused on the stage, finishing their conversation. But Adrien couldn't be disappointed by that.

Now he had a total of four friends. Plus that _something_ between him and Marinette.

 _Marinette…_

He was only able to get a new friend because he followed her example of helping Chloé's victims. He had to thank her for that sometime.

Would she be happy for him?

Would she even care about it?

He tried not to think about that last possibility. Marinette was a nice person. She would never _not_ be happy for him at succeeding in something so important. Surely she would be happy for him, right? Marinette was that kind of person, after all.

…she seemed like that kind of person at the very least.

He shoved that thought about Marinette's reaction in the rearmost corner of his mind for the rest of the school day.

Sometime along their practice, the clouds above Paris finally decided to let their raindrops fill the streets. With a bit of luck, there wouldn't be any near rainfalls after the current weather calmed itself again.

Adrien was grateful for that possibility. No more tired limbs or sleepiness for a longer time.

But for now, it was horrible.

The sound of the rain, tapping against the windows of the sports hall, made him even sleepier than every coming storm or cold temperature could do. He was barely able to stay awake for the last thirty minutes before the bell would dismiss them to their early evening.

Mme. Bustier mentioned again that they would have to come to the sports hall from now on after their lunch breaks, and that they should be coming on time.

Alina said goodbye to Adrien before she dashed away to the other boy, which was together with Max and Nino in the technical support team, and clutched her arm around his.

 _Probably her mentioned boyfriend_ , Adrien figured.

While he made his way to the wide doors of the hall, Nino caught up with him. "How was your first day of practicing? Did you start to miss someone during the hours?" the DJ presented his best friend a knowing grin.

Adrien frowned. What kind of question was that?

Did he miss someone in the past few hours?

He had wanted Marinette to be there for a short moment, but apart from that, he didn't miss anyone.

Did the wish for people to disappear also count? Because he had wanted Chloé to disappear a couple of times.

"Why do you ask?" Adrien said eventually.

"I'm just a young and curious dude, dude," after that, Nino didn't pursue the topic any further.

While they were on their way to the locker room, many of the other students had already left the school building. They all had umbrellas in their hands or were checking if their jackets were completely closed. It only reminded Adrien that there was an almost storm outside and that he would finally be at home in a few minutes. He would be able to take a short hour nap and do absolutely nothing.

He couldn't suppress a yawn from escaping his throat when he opened his locker.

"Dude, you need more sleep," was Nino's immediate response to that, "Tell your dad to give you more time to relax."

"I have to ask him to lighten my schedule for the play, anyway," Adrien said, though the sound of his voice was rather low and sullen. Asking his father for permissions or changes in his schedules were never much fun before and that would certainly not change for the next twenty years.

Although would he still have to ask his father for permissions when he was thirty-five years old?

…probably yes.

"He's better doing that," Nino grabbed a dark blue umbrella from his locker.

Adrien sleepily rubbed the end of his wrist against his tired eye, while he searched through the contents of his locker for his own umbrella. His opened eye landed on the long black one from his second school day. After Marinette gave it back to him on the next day, he always forgot to take it home and so it just leaned against the inner wall of his locker for months by now.

Well, he should be thankful for his forgetfulness.

He pulled the umbrella out of his locker and closed the locker door.

"It's my father we're talking about," Adrien murmured when he put on his black jacket - and made sure for Plagg to zip in one of the pockets - before he pulled the silver-colored zipper up to his chin.

Nino laid his arm around Adrien's shoulders. "Come on, let's get out of here," he pushed the blonde through the empty hallway to the entrance hall. They were one of the few last ones to exit the school.

As they reached the front door, Adrien noticed a smaller black-haired girl with two pigtails and a pink backpack standing under the door frame and staring out in the pouring rain, back turned to him and Nino.

 _Marinette._

Before Adrien could think about it, he speeded up his pace, left Nino alone, and reached Marinette in under ten seconds.

"Hey," he faced her with a friendly smile and a little wave with his hand, "I feel like I'm having a déjà-vu."

Marinette just blinked at him for a moment, but as soon as she seemed to realize who exactly stood in front of her, the color of her cheeks changed into a bright red, - it was even brighter than usual - her eyes widened itself, and her mouth was slightly agape.

Adrien tried his best to keep the smile on his face.

He was just about to start thinking, what he could possibly have done to make her look so shocked and uncomfortable, when her lips turned upwards into a warm smile, her bluebell eyes sparkled with something he couldn't really put his finger on, and a little chuckle escaped from her throat.

His heartbeat doubled for the third time that day because of Marinette.

Adrien suddenly began to question _why_ it does that.

 _Because she stood up for you_ , he told himself, _she defended you and told Chloé what you couldn't._

Yeah, that was the reason for it.

No one did that for him before. He was just grateful towards Marinette.

Just as always, Adrien purposefully ignored the little voice in the back of his head that tried to tell him, this was not the only reason.

"So, you don't have an umbrella with you?" Adrien asked, after a quick inaudible gulp. For some strange reason, he felt like he wouldn't be able to speak without gulping first.

"No," she played with a few strands from one of her pigtails, her gaze was locked on the stairs to the sidewalk. "Usually I'm so hectic, that I completely forget about everything," she chuckled nervously, "And today I was too sleepy in the morning, and in the afternoon we needed to go back to the school or we would've been late. So I forgot it again."

She had spoken with that soft smile on her lips, with that adorable blush upon her cheeks, and that cute movement while she played with her hair.

She had spoken without a single stutter.

Suddenly, Adrien felt a bit too warm in that jacket.

Without a second thought, he held his umbrella in her direction. Marinette stared wordlessly down at it. For a short moment, her gaze flickered to him, but she quickly looked back down to the object between them.

Adrien waited for a response from her, but she didn't say anything. Was there something wrong? She didn't even seem like she would take the umbrella. Hadn't he spoke loud enough?

…wait, he didn't speak at all!

"You can have it!" Adrien quickly said, a bit too loud. Now Marinette's eyes widened again and her gaze flew finally up to his own.

"B-but you'll get wet again because of me," her voice was a little higher. Or was he just imagining things? It wouldn't surprise him right now, to be honest.

"Don't worry about it," he smiled at her, but he couldn't wipe the feeling away that it may turn out to look a little insecure. If it did, Marinette would hopefully not notice it.

This situation was kind of awkward.

"Besides," he decided to add, "I can just walk to my car with-" - he turned his head to look back into the school building, only to find the hall completely abandoned - "…Nino?"

The building answered him with silence.

A silence that was only interrupted by the buzz of Marinette's phone.

Slightly bewildered, she took it out of the little purse she had always with her and glanced at the screen. Adrien watched when, only a few seconds later, her face lit up in another wave of blood streaming towards her head. But now, the blush also covered her ears and the tip of her nose. She stared down at her phone screen in utter shock, and probably disbelieve too.

Somehow, it appeared cute to him.

Somehow, the beat of his heart doubled for the fourth time.

Somehow, he was curious on what the girl in front of him seemed to be so shocked about.

Somehow, his feet stepped a bit closer to her.

…and somehow, he managed to quickly put the umbrella in her hand, saying _see you tomorrow_ probably a bit too fast, more run than walk down the stairs to the school, and practically jumping into the silver car that was waiting for him on the edge of the sidewalk.

 _That was weird._

It took him a moment to steady his breathing and relax into his seat. The soft cushion made his eyelids feel heavy and he fought another yawn from making its way out of his mouth.

He must've been too sleepy. That was the reason for this awkward, strange, weird situation with his _something_ classmate.

 _Stupid side effects._

By the time Adrien finally arrived at his house, he wanted nothing more than just fall into his bed and sleep until tomorrow morning.

Unfortanutally, he had to eat dinner and speak with his father about the play before he could be the cat again.

So he ended up standing in front of his father's office and staring at the closed door, after a long and draining dinner, with an uncertain expression on his face.

The still falling raindrops, that tapped against the big windows of the mansion, made the inside of the building appear even more empty and lonely than usual. Adrien could hear the sound of someone typing on a keyboard from the room behind the door.

Apart from those two things, everything was completely silent.

Plagg had peeked his head out from his hiding spot in the inner pocket of Adrien's shirt. His big green eyes were locked on his chosen - Adrien could feel the kwami's gaze on him - but he didn't look back to the tiny black creature.

"Come on, kid," Plagg eventually spoke up, "Just get it over with."

Adrien took a deep breath, "You're right." He raised his hand, but still hesitated for a second, before he knocked on the door and Plagg zipped his head back into his chosen's shirt.

After a few seconds, the typing sound stopped and an emotionless "Yes." came from inside the room in Gabriel Agreste's voice. Adrien slowly opened the door and entered his father's office.

Gabriel was sitting in front of his computer, the painting of Adrien's mother at his back, and only gave his son a quick glance when he walked towards him before he focused his eyes back on the computer screen.

"What do you want, Adrien?" the tone of his voice had no emotion in it and his expression was unreadable, lips tucked into a thin line.

Adrien could feel Plagg slightly patting against his chest when he took another deep breath.

He looked past his father, at the wall behind him, when he started to speak, "I wanted to inform you, that my school decided to take part in a school competition for the next weeks and-"

"I am aware," Gabriel interrupted him.

His statement took Adrien by surprise. He almost stuttered when he spoke again, "You are?"

"Yes," Gabriel started to type again on his keyboard, "Your school send an E-Mail to all parents and invited them to the play."

"Oh," Adrien's view fell to the desk in front of him when a question started to form itself in the boy's mind. "Are you… coming?"

Adrien didn't look up when the sound of typing vanished for a split second.

"I can not make any promises," Gabriel answered.

 _In other words_ , Adrien thought, _'I'm not coming'._

"I see," was all he said to his father's reply.

Silence seized the office again, only interrupted by the steady sound of typing. Adrien just stood there, hands clenched into fists to keep them from shivering, and he struggled to find the right words to begin a new topic. He tried to form a good sentence in his mind, but his father's patients seemed to run out before he could finish it.

"Is there something else you want to tell me?"

"Um, yes, father," Adrien cursed himself for the slight stutter. He took another second to steel himself for Gabriel's reaction. "Since I'll be acting for the play, I have to practice and memorize my lines," he glanced in his father's direction but couldn't really register his expression before he already looked away again, "So I wanted to ask you to- to take a few lessons or shoots from my schedule."

Another stutter. Great.

Adrien couldn't help himself but gulp at that mistake.

The sound of Gabriel's keyboard disappeared again and Adrien could hear his father's clothes shift when he turned slightly to look at him. He didn't like that feeling the gaze of his father always gave him.

"Adrien," he tried not to flinch at the sound of his name, "You know that we have to prepare for the spring collection. I can not cancel any of your photo shoots."

Adrien forced his voice to stay strong, "I understand, father."

It was quiet again, but he could still feel Gabriel's eyes on him, so he didn't move an inch.

"But I suppose," Gabriel said, "I can cancel your Chinese and piano lessons. You improved in both, but you still have to work on your fencing skills."

Adrien almost jumped from joy and relief, but he held his expression and posture perfectly calm. "Thank you, father."

"You can go now," Gabriel turned back to face his computer.

Quickly, but not too fast, Adrien left his father's office and walked back the halls to his room.

Once he entered it, Plagg flew to his shelf with camembert. Adrien bumped his fist into the air and Plagg offered him a "Congrats, kid" before he swallowed a whole slice of his precious cheese.

* * *

 **A/N:** _First, I want to thank everyone who is interested in this fanfiction!_

 _There are way more people than I expected. Thank you all so much! 3_

 _I hope you all liked this chapter and I'll see you again. Have a nice day!_ :D


	3. Thoughts

Chapter 03: **Thoughts**

Tuesday came and went without anything out of the ordinary. Same classes, same teachers, and same schedule. The only thing that was different from all the other Tuesdays was the fact that Adrien didn't have normal lessons after the lunch break was over. But it was that good kind of 'different'.

He enjoyed seeing other people try to act like an old married couple or a tourist, lost in the many streets of Paris. Without a script to remember from, acting felt easy and light. You could do what you want, as long as it fits into your role, and this was an experience Adrien couldn't say he had made very often.

Well, the 'do what you want' part at least. Although he got the chance for that as Chat Noir but doing it as Adrien was something else. It felt just… different. And so, this little change in his school life was a great addition to being able to go to public school in the first place.

But, if he would be honest, this wasn't the best part of his day so far.

There was this little conversation he had with one of his classmates. Under normal circumstances, this would have been nothing special. Just tow teenagers talking with each other about a small thing that happened the day before. But, for Adrien, it meant a lot.

He wasn't the best at making friends, or social contacts in general, he knew that. Often he would have one and a million thoughts inside his head when he was talking to someone. If he knew that person or not didn't make any difference.

Sometimes he still had this problem with Nino, and the boy was probably the best friend he would ever be able to find.

It always gave him a heavy feeling near his chest, that Adrien would try to ignore and just make the best out of the situation. But he couldn't see inside the head of his conversation partner, and this fact never failed to make the young boy anxious.

When Marinette started to stutter whenever he was talking to her, this feeling grow even heavier. The number of his thoughts in a single second had increased from one million to two - even three sometimes - and he didn't know how to act with her. He couldn't figure out what made _her_ act like _that_ , either, no matter how many hours he spent thinking about it.

Why would she be shy, awkward, clumsy, but still kind, in his presence, and with everyone else just… at ease? Comfortable. Even kind of cheeky and confident. It was a different Marinette than the one who would stay in front of Adrien.

But this other side of her amazed him, she just wouldn't want to show it to him directly. He had to look at her from a certain distance to see it. And every time, it made his thoughts go rampage.

He was the only one who wasn't worthy to see this side of the cute girl that sat behind him in class. He was the only one that she treated differently from the rest. He was the only one whose simple appearance would get her to blush, stutter, and probably feel uncomfortable, too.

There was a lot more of this kind of thoughts that would get activated once he noticed a change in Marinette's behavior. Adrien even assumed he would slowly go insane from all the possible things his mind was able to bring up as a reason for her actions.

He asked Nino once for advice and tried to explain his thoughts and worries to him. The only response he got from the DJ, however, was "I don't think this is something you need to worry about" and Adrien's best friend had ended the conversation with a frustrated groan when the computer screen in front of them displayed the words 'P1 lose - P2 win'.

Adrien couldn't stop, though, and so everything just continued like it had.

So imagine his inner joy, happiness, and relieve when Marinette had walked up to him this morning, as he was getting his books from his locker.

"Good morning, Adrien," she had greeted him with a smile and a small wave of her hand. There was still this pink hue on her cheeks when she had approached the spot where he had been standing, but his mind was too preoccupied with the fact that she hadn't stuttered. At all. She was even the one who had started the conversation.

Before it could look like he had been staring at her, he quickly greeted her back. He couldn't deny that his focus laid completely on her, though.

"I just wanted to give you the umbrella back," Marinette had held the object in front of her, still smiling, "It helped me a lot yesterday, thank you."

"No need to thank me," Adrien took the umbrella and had placed it in the same position like the last time she gave it back to him, instead of just putting it in one of the umbrella stands in the room to take it home afterward.

"Are you going to keep it here?" Marinette's voice had sounded curious and he couldn't help himself but feel even more joy rise up inside of him. She wanted to know something about him. It was just a little detail, but still.

In that moment, he had been overwhelmed with the feeling of ease that came over him and before he could stop himself, or even recognize what exactly he was about to say, it already escaped through his soft smiling lips.

"Well, if you're going to forget your umbrella a third time, someone has to be there to rescue a cute girl from the possible suffering of a cold, right?"

The constant blush on Marinette's cheeks had deepened, and before she started to quickly stare at the floor, her eyes widened again and her lips parted. Like the day before. And Adrien found it cute, feeling his smile grow a bit wider.

That is until he finally realized that he had admitted this fact out loud in front of her. He felt embarrassment starting to overtake his feelings, not a second later.

"I, uh, I'm sorry," he had rubbed the back of his neck with his hand in a sheepish manner, "That probably came out weird." He let go of a nervous chuckle. His eyes darted around the room to find something to focus on, anything but Marinette would have been fine.

"It's okay," Adrien's attention flew instantly back at her as she started to speak, his expression had been a bit surprised. She hadn't looked at him, but he could still see the happy smile on her lips. "I'll- I'll take it as a compliment."

Her first stutter that day was probably only caused because she felt flattered.

For the whole day they had a few simple and short conversations, but every single time Marinette would talk with him like with anyone else. If you just ignored the blush on her cheeks, that is. There weren't deep things, that they talked about. But it was a start. A good start.

Adrien couldn't stop thinking about his classmate for the rest of the day.

Even now, with the setting sun on his back, and the cold wind brushing over his face when Chat Noir jumped from roof to roof on the way to his meeting point with Ladybug for their patrol, Marinette occupied the better of his thoughts.

He didn't really notice this fact. In the end, he thought about her rather frequently, so he had no reason to make a big deal out of it or anything. They were… _something_ , after all.

 _Shouldn't I call her a 'friend' after today?_

Chat came to a sudden halt on a small balcony rooftop. His gaze just stared at a few flowerpots in front of him. He didn't really see them, though. His mind was too busy with creating a perfect picture of Marinette from his memories.

Silky night-black hair, big bluebell eyes, a rather tiny nose, soft looking lips, cheeks with a rose-colored hue, cream-colored skin. It was just like she would actually stay in front of him.

 _Did I really pay so much attention to her appearance?_

He considered Marinette to be his friend, so it was only natural to memorize all those things, right? And now, that they actually could be categorized as friends-

Chat stopped the thought before his mind could complete it. For some strange reason, he felt something like a sting in his chest, not far away from the area where is heart should be. It was a rather painful sting, too.

 _Marinette doesn't feel like a friend._

But that's what he wanted from her, wasn't it? He just wanted to be friends with Marinette. Nothing more, nothing less. Just friends.

…but when he was calling her a friend, it felt wrong. Like, this was not the word he should associate with Marinette. More than that. The mere thought of Marinette being 'just a friend' to him, caused Chat to feel… disappointment? Anxiety? Sadness? Sorrow? …disapproval?

He wasn't able to find a word for it. He felt all those things at once, still, those words didn't fit at the same time.

It was the same with Marinette herself. Humans had a lot of different relationships, and names for those. But there didn't seem to be a name for his relationship with Marinette. He couldn't really say, what the girl from his class was to him.

What could a person be to another? And what of those words would be the perfect description for Marinette?

An enemy? - He wanted to be on friendly terms with her.

A stranger? - He knew her too well for that by now.

An acquaintance? - That sounded too formal.

A classmate? - She was way more than just that.

A friend? - …that still felt wrong.

A sister? - No, definitely not.

A partner? - He already had Ladybug!

A love interest? - …when did he start to think about _that_ kind of relationship?

A crush? - …no, he didn't have a crush on her.

A possible girlfriend? - …she _is_ pretty cute, after all…

A girlfriend? - …no, wait, he _didn't have_ a crush on her!

A lover? - …where was this even going?

A fiancée? - …wha…?

A wife? - …okay, that was a _bit_ too much.

His- - … …what?

"Chat Noir?"

He almost let out a very girl-like shriek and jumped into the air.

Chat already knew who raised their voice right now, but before he could look in the direction of the person, he examined his surroundings a bit more. Just to buy some time.

There, right in front of him, were exact three flowerpots with plants planted in them. When he turned around, he could see another one, attached to the silver balcony railing, with a bunch of roses in it, and a little pinwheel not far away from it. There also was a wooden table in the middle of the balcony, currently occupied with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. To his left stood a deck chair with pink and white stripes on the fabric, and a white shade tarp above it. And when he locked his gaze on the building across the small street on the ground, he could see the roof of Collège Françoise Dupont.

 _This is Marinette's balcony._

Chat gulped without noticing it, as his eyes fell onto the opened trapdoor on the floor.

Marinette's bluebell eyes stared back at him in wonder, her silky night-black hair was tied into her trademark pigtails, her soft looking lips were slightly agape, and she wrinkled her tiny nose a bit.

However, her cheeks didn't have that cute little blush upon them. At least her skin was still cream-colored. And… were those… freckles?

 _She has freckles._

Why didn't he notice them sooner? They made her appear even more adorable!

His mind quickly saved that information, although Chat didn't really know why it would do that.

But if he'd think about it, he would come to the conclusion that he'd like to remember all those things that made his classmate cute and adorable. So he just let it happen.

"What are you doing here?"

This time, Marinette's question _did_ cause Chat to flinch slightly at the tone of her voice. It sounded almost nervous or tense. He had to admit, that it probably wasn't reassuring to see one of Paris superheroes on their rooftop if you didn't know what the occasion for it was. There could always be an Akuma, after all.

Anyways, he didn't like that tone. Marinette's voice was sweet, - just like her scent, what he noticed now with his sharpened cat-senses - and he didn't want to hear her talk like that. She should be her usual self.

The one, that Adrien finally got to see from her today. Maybe not completely but the thought filled his feelings with contentment.

And now that he was Chat Noir, he could speak more confident. He'd better use that to his advantage.

"Don't worry, little lady," he made a small bow in her direction, retrieving his composure, "I am just a stray cat on the way to its meeting point with his favorite kind of bug." He looked down at her with a light grin. It was great to just voice your thoughts out loud, no matter what they might've been.

Also, he could give her pet names without worrying about it.

… _nick_ names.

He could give her _nick_ names.

"Do you," Marinette paused for a moment to look around the nearby buildings, "always pass by my balcony?" Her eyes fell back to him, but she didn't meet his own ones.

"Sometimes," Chat admitted with a carefree shrug, "I'm always taking different routes. Just to be safe, you know?"

"Oh," now Marinette lowered her gaze to the floor. Chat couldn't see her eyes anymore - they were hidden behind the black bangs of her hair - but he had a good view of her rosy lips. And how she was slightly chewing on her bottom lip. She seemed kind of guilty to Chat.

He frowned and stared down at the top of her head.

First, she was nervous, and now guilty? Was she bothered by something? Could he ask her about that?

He hadn't interacted much with her in the past as Chat Noir. Maybe he would come off as weird if he would ask her such a personal question. Of course, he could always use the excuse that a superhero has to ensure everything is well with the citizens he's protecting. But it would still be weird. And maybe a bit awkward.

He didn't want that.

He also didn't want Marinette to be bothered. She should be happy. Somehow he has to make her happy. So, how could you do that?

"What is the best thing that happened to you today?" he asked suddenly. The words had been forming in his head, so he just let them out. Like always when he was Chat. He could do it in that state, after all.

When Marinette was thinking about something she liked, then she surely would automatically feel better, right?

 _I want to see her smile._

Marinette's bluebell eyes flew back up to him, this time they looked into his green ones, and she tilted her head in confusion, frowning. "Why would you want to know that?" she sounded somewhat irritated.

That was still a rather weird question, wasn't it?

"Just curious about what could make such a fair princess, like you, happy," he smirked. It wasn't the truth, but it sounded like something Chat Noir would say. He would be fine.

If he was being honest, he wanted to know that anyway. So it wasn't a lie, either.

Marinette gave him a thoughtful hum in response. She seemed to consider something while she looked him up and down.

A few seconds passed before her lips turned up into a warm smile and that rose-colored hue returned to her cheeks. It made Chat's heart stop for a moment, only to pull a wave of warmth through his body, not long after.

He was confused for a second there, but it felt somehow reassuring.

"I don't really know why you would be interested in that," Marinette started with an amused tone in her voice. She lifted herself up and climbed on the floor of her balcony to stand in front of him while she continued to speak in a more cheerful way, "But honestly, I don't care about that because today has to be one of my best days, and I can't stop thinking about it." She grabbed a pink watering can from behind the deck chair and started to water her roses, all the while with that cute smile upon her lips.

"Oh? And why's that?" he sounded amused, too, but also curious. Genuinely curious.

"Aren't you supposed to meet Ladybug right now?" she asked him back, focused on her red flowers.

"I still have some time left," actually, he didn't know about that. But there was no way, he would let go of that opportunity to hear the reason for a day to be one of her bests.

Marinette looked over her shoulder, back to him. He tilted his head and smiled at her. Hopefully, it would reassure her a bit and make her talk.

"Fine," she huffed with a smile of her own. She focused back on her plants when she spoke again. The tone of her voice held something deeper in it, but Chat couldn't say what it was.

"I finally managed to speak with a boy from my class without making a complete fool out of me."

 _Is she talking about me?_

"I wanted to get to know him since the start of this school year, actually. But I was always kind of nervous in his presence," she paused for a moment, "Okay, 'kind of' is an understatement. Still, even if I couldn't get a coherent sentence out in front of him, he was always kind to me. And he remembers a very precious moment for me from his second day at school."

 _She_ is _talking about me!_

"The fact, that he _actually_ remembers it, made me so happy, I thought I could manage anything, after that. And I had a reason for speaking to him this morning, so I did. Maybe I'm thinking about this too much, but for a short moment it even seemed like he was flirting with me," she let go of a small chuckle, in one of the loveliest ways Chat ever heard a human being chuckling, "So, basically, everything that could've been going well today, did exactly that and I have a new found confident thanks to him."

Marinette finished her little speech with the warmest and most honest smile on her lips. Her eyes glinted with a strong feeling behind them and made their sparkle compete with the last golden rays of the sun on the horizon.

Chat opened his mouth and held his breath, a thousand thoughts starting to go off in his mind.

She wanted to know him, too. She was just nervous for whatever reason. He made today rememberable for her. She treasured the moment when he gave her that umbrella. She didn't think he would remember it, but it made her even happier when she realized he did. He gave her, even more, confidence than she already had. She thought he flirted with her this morning, but somehow he didn't have anything against that interpretation.

 _She is way more radiant than the sun itself._

Chat's heartbeat doubled.

He quickly steadied his breath again and cleared his throat. "He sounds like a really important person to you," he desperately hoped his voice wouldn't betray his flattered and confused, but mostly nervous, state.

 _Why am I nervous?_

"Yes, he is," Marinette looked down at the pink watering can in her hands with a dreamy look on her face.

Her expression was so endearing, Chat couldn't help himself but wonder how it would feel to wrap his arms around her, pull her closer and keep her pressed tightly against his chest. How strong her scent would be if he'd bury his nose in her hair and if her skin would feel soft under his touch.

…he definitely had not enough hugs in the past few years.

Somehow he felt embarrassed for his imaginations.

"Chat?" he was yanked out of his thoughts by Marinette's concerned voice, "Is everything okay?"

He blinked at her stupidly. "Yeah, why wouldn't it?" he presented her a reassuring grin.

"Are you sure?" she frowned, "Your face looks a little red."

Suddenly, Chat was well aware of the heat in his cheeks and at the tip of his ears.

 _Am I… blushing?_

"You don't have to worry about me," he chuckled nervously, "This humble knight isn't worthy of this fair princess' concern." He made a bow to cut her view of from his blushing features. He didn't get a response from Marinette, but he could feel her gaze locked on him.

The heat grew stronger.

"Well, I'm afraid I have to take my leave now," he straightened his body and quickly turned on his heels. He looked back at her over his shoulder. Her eyes displayed her still persistent worry about him.

It made this strange sting near his heart appear again.

"Until our next meeting, princess," he gave her his trademark grin and the two-finger salute before he launched himself with his extended staff to the next roof across the street as fast as he could.

Even when Chat reached the very top of the Eiffel tower, - with no Ladybug nearby to be seen - were normal civilians didn't have access to, and the cool air from the end of February surrounded him, he could still feel the heat creeping over his cheeks.

This smile and this radiant shine in Marinette's eyes just wouldn't want to leave him alone. His mind repeated her words over and over again, without a near end of it in sight.

Not that he would _want_ it to end.

" _He sounds like a really important person to you."_

" _Yes, he is."_

Chat released a somewhat relieved sigh.

He was important to Marinette. That meant she cared about him, right?

Out there didn't exist a lot of people, that truly cared about Adrien nor that considered him important. At least they did not care about the fifteen-year-old teenager, but for the famous model and heir of Gabriel Agreste's fashion brand instead.

Marinette, on the other hand, called him important after a day they finally had several normal conversations. And none of it covered the topic of his family or photo shoots. Although they got off to a pretty rough start, thanks to a simple misunderstanding, she wanted to know him, called him kind, and decided to count as one of the few people that cared about _Adrien_ and not _Adrien Agreste_.

" _Yes, he is."_

Her statement continued on and on inside of his head. The memory of the tone in Marinette's voice when she spoke about today filled his body with warmth. Not the embarrassing sort of warmth you would feel while you were blushing, or you were ashamed of yourself.

No, it was a reassuring sort of warmth. A kind and tender one. Chat couldn't recall a single moment in his life when he felt like that. Today must've been the first time.

What would happen if he'd go back to Marinette and spend the rest of the day with her?

Would this warmth vanish? Would it stay? Or would it grow even stronger?

Why didn't he feel this sometime before?

Suddenly, a hand touched Chat's shoulder and caused the superhero to jump to his feet with a startled screech. His hand flashed immediately to the baton on his back while his other claw readied itself to defend him against whomever just disturbed his inner thoughts about a cute, adorable, radiant girl from his class that considered his civilian self to be important to her and that treasured a certain situation in the rain, which included a normal black umbrella.

His serious expression turned into confusion when he stared into the equally confused and startled blue eyes of his Lady. She had raised her hands in an unspoken attempt of calming him down.

"My Lady! What a great evening to see you," Chat eventually broke the silence. He let his body relax again and reached for Ladybug's hand to plant a light kiss on her knuckles. The black-dotted superheroine didn't stop him.

Instead, he could feel her calculating and wary gaze on him. He straightened himself, eyes looking down at her, and waited for her to speak.

"Usually, you hear me coming," Ladybug's expression turned into one of concern, "And now, you didn't even hear me speak. Is something bothering you?"

Chat made her worry about him. A wave of guilt rushed through his body.

"Everything is fine, Ladybug," he hoped his voice sounded at least a little reassuring, "I was just caught up in thoughts, forgive me." He grinned at her.

Ladybug raised a dark eyebrow. She waited a few seconds before she spoke again, "You know that you can always talk to me, right?"

"Of course I do." _But I'll never take the risk of bothering you._ Nor the possibility of her thinking, he moved on and fell for another girl. That wasn't the case, and it certainly never would. He loved that girl behind this ladybug-themed mask, no one else.

…wait, why was he even thinking someone could be assuming that?

Ladybug's blue eyes scanned his face to find some sort of prove that could confirm his statement. Chat Noir gave her the exact expression that she wanted to see on him. Wearing a mask made it only easier for him to change the displayed feelings on his face.

Maybe that wasn't one of the most honest abilities, though.

Eventually, Ladybug let go of a resigning sigh. "If you say so," she eyed him for a few more seconds before she turned around and stepped forward to the edge of the platform. She grasped her yo-yo in her hand and made herself ready to fling it on a chimney of a nearby rooftop.

Chat Noir reached for his baton, focus partially on the roof Ladybug wanted to start their patrol on, and partially on Ladybug herself. The last sun rays were reflected from her black-bluish hair. On any other occasion, he would've thought it made her look beautiful. Gorgeous.

Were it not for this night-black haired classmate of him.

Her radiant bluebell eyes were still hunting him in his thoughts and every time his and Ladybug's eyes met, while they silently swung from roof to roof and kept an eye out for any possible Akumas or generally signs of Hawkmoth, he imagined Marinette running side by side with him through the night.

It filled him with a strange sort of excitement.

For the rest of their patrol, Chat couldn't scratch a certain sentence from his mind. It suddenly appeared in his head and the truth it held within, kept it even more from vanishing.

' _Princess' is a higher title than 'Lady'._

Ladybug came to a sudden halt on a rooftop near the glass pyramid of the Louvre.

Chat stopped by her side and gave her a confused look, "Ladybug?"

"It's been an hour and you didn't say anything," Ladybug's expression was serious, mixed with genuine concern. "Normally, you would've started a conversation by now," the same applied to the tone of her voice, "Yet, there's nothing. Silence. Something is off about you, Chat."

The cat-themed superhero stared at his partner, dumbfounded. Not a second later, his green eyes snapped up to the sky above them to find it completely dark. A few clouds were hanging around, but he could still see one or two stars glittered down at them. And the moon. The bright, shining moon.

"It's been an hour?" he asked with a hint of shock in his voice when his gaze locked back at Ladybug. Maybe his thoughts kept him a bit _too_ occupied.

"Yes, it is," Ladybug frowned, "Are you now going to tell me what's keeping you trapped in your thoughts?" The look on her face told Chat that he couldn't talk himself out of this. And he knew it.

It was not like him to be so quiet around his Lady without a single attempt to flirt with her or to have a simple small talk. Sometimes, he even tried to get some information about her civilian identity - without much progress, unfortunately - but this night, something else obviously held his attention.

And it made Ladybug worry about him. She shouldn't be worried about anything.

Besides, he didn't really know _what_ made him stay in his thoughts with Marinette, even though Ladybug, the love of his life, was standing right next to him.

"Chat?"

 _I did it again._

"I'm sorry, my Lady. I just-," he paused to search for the right words, "I don't know. Today was just… the same as always, but still… different?"

She frowned deeper and tilted her head slightly to one side, silently telling him to go on.

Chat tried to order his thoughts for a moment. "Look," he eventually started, "Something great happened today. _Really_ great, actually. I mean, I can't stop thinking about it!" His expression turned into a rather flustered one. "I guess, I'm still trying to process it?" it sounded more like a question.

He definitely tried to precess _something_. The real question was, _what_?

"Are you sure there's nothing more?"

 _The fact, that Marinette talked to me?_

"I'm sure."

 _Her new found confidence to be able to stay calm in my presence?_

"You're not lying to me?"

 _Those adorable freckles?_

"I would never."

 _This radiant image of her in the sunset?_

"It's not something you could describe vaguely to me?"

 _How much she cares about me?_

"I'm afraid not, my Lady."

 _Marinette's smile?_

Ladybug stared at him for a few seconds before she let a small sigh escape through her slightly parted lips. "Okay, Chat," she said, "But then talk about it with someone else. What if there's an Akuma attack and you're so lost in your own thoughts that you wouldn't even notice it if you were buried under a bunch of feathers?"

Her voice entered Chat's one ear and left through the other.

His mind was busy with producing an image of Marinette again. This time with her freckles and that heart warming smile on her lips. The sound of her chuckle a bit more than an hour ago echoed in his head.

It was a perfect image.

Could he somehow print it from his brain, frame it, and hang up on his bedroom wall? Or, better, over his bed? The first thing he would see in the morning would be Marinette's smiling face.

It was just too bad that it would only be an image and not the _real_ Marinette. For that, he would have to sleep beside her or she would come in the morning to wake him up…

…bad idea. His heartbeat double. Marinette wasn't even near him this time.

"Chat!" Ladybug's shout brought him back into reality.

"Um, I-I'm sorry," his hand placed itself at the back of his neck in a sheepish manner. Strange, only Adrien had that habit. "I spaced out again. Uhm," he risked a look at her concerned and unsure expression, "I… I have to do something about that. Somehow."

"Yeah, you do," Ladybug agreed with a stern tone. She lifted her gaze from him and examined their surroundings. "I don't think something's going to happen tonight," she said eventually, "Let's just go home and get some rest. It's always better to finish this early on a school night." She already had her yo-yo in her hand when she looked one last time in Chat's direction.

Chat looked back, questioningly.

"Talk to someone," concern was written over her face, "Okay?"

He could only give her a short nod.

"Good. See you later, Chat," she presented him a small smile before she launched herself into the cool air.

Chat stared after her retreating figure in the distance, thinking about her last few words to him.

It wasn't like he wouldn't want to follow her advice. He simply didn't know how. He didn't really have someone to talk to in situations like this.

His father was out of the question.

Nino was a great friend but something told him the DJ would more tease him about it than actually be of some help. The same goes for Alya.

He couldn't talk with Marinette, either. They just started to get closer, he didn't want to immediately ruin it with that.

If he would mention the aspiring designer to Chloé… He didn't actually want to know what would happen then.

In the past, he would go to his mother in an instant. But that wasn't possible anymore.

So who was left?

Plagg never seemed to be the understanding and adviceful type of kwami. In any case, he would probably make fun of him, as soon as he reached his room and de-transformed, for how he behaved in front of the person he claimed to be in love with.

…claimed?

It wasn't a claim. It was the truth! Why did he have to remind himself of that fact?

Chat released an exhausted sigh.

He should focus on getting some sleep. Maybe everything would be easier once he rested a bit. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

Before he could change his mind, he grabbed his staff and hauled himself back to the Agreste mansion.

All the way home, he tried to keep his thoughts on anything but Marinette. He still caught his mind trying to go back to images of his happy-looking, cute, adorable, freckled, _something_ classmate, which was even _more_ something by now, but he could manage to find his way back.

Once he jumped through the open window into his dark bedroom, he released his transformation, went over to his wardrobe, and grabbed some perfectly folded pajamas out of one of the drawers.

Adrien could feel Plagg's gaze locked on him as he changed his clothes.

When Adrien finished and turned to the black kwami, Plagg sat down on his computer desk, camembert in his paws, and staring at his chosen with a thoughtful - and strangely wise - look in his bright green eyes.

"Plagg?" Adrien frowned in his direction. Usually, that camembert would've disappeared by now.

Instead, the teenager didn't receive an answer right away. Plagg stared at him for what felt like two whole minutes, as if Adrien was some kind of mystery, which the kwami couldn't solve.

Eventually, he broke the silence, "You're changing."

"And," Adrien's frown deepened, "that means?"

Plagg shifted his gaze on his camembert, but still didn't eat it, and seemed to think about something.

 _Is that how I looked for the whole patrol?_

Adrien's room went quiet once again. The blonde stood in front of his kwami-partner and waited for him to gather his thoughts, speak up, and explain this strange behavior of him.

The faint ticking sound of a clock was the only thing to be heard for another time span of five minutes. Slowly, Adrien began to feel uncomfortable.

"When you transform," Plagg finally started with a low voice, "I'm getting absorbed from the Miraculous."

"I already knew that?" Adrien's confusion grew.

Plagg ignored his comment, "I am directly connected to your whole being in that state. That's why your senses are the most present in your transformation." The kwami made a short pause. "And while you get to use my senses, I can feel the more persistent emotions you have in that time," Plagg's voice was getting lower and lower as he spoke.

"Emotions? Why emotions?" Adrien wasn't sure if he completely understood what Plagg wanted to tell him.

"It's a side effect. I can't read your thoughts or anything. I also can't feel what you touch, or general feelings that are activated from physical interactions. Only the psychological ones as long as they are strong, true, or pure enough," another round of silence after that. Plagg's next words were a whisper, "You felt warmth today."

Instantly, Adrien remembered Marinette. Her words, her appearance, his thoughts about her. The feeling he had when he sat on top of the Eiffel tower. The heat in his cheeks and at the tip of his ears.

His blush returned.

"And-and what about that?" _Why am I stuttering?_ "It's not like I never felt warmth before," he felt a lot of warmth in his mother's presence after all. And sometimes in Ladybugs, too. If Plagg could truly sense his strongest emotions in a transformation, surely this wasn't something new to him?

"You didn't," the kwami's voice was a mix of pain, concern, uncertainty, and a rare hint of wisdom.

Adrien was taken aback from all those emotions in Plagg's voice. He was used to a rather carefree tone from his little companion, not this. "What do you mean 'I didn't'?"

"That what it means."

"Explain it?"

Plagg's gaze on his favorite cheese hardened. He seemed to have an inner dialog of major importance. Adrien didn't dare to disturb him and waited another few minutes for his kwami to speak.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this," he decided eventually, closing his eyes, and finally swallowing his slice of camembert.

Adrien blinked at him, dumbfounded. That was the final answer he got for this strange behavior?

"The only thing I can tell you," Plagg said, "is that you are changing."

Well, that wasn't of any help.

After that, the kwami started to eat his cheese like Adrien was used to seeing it. The blonde sighed and walked over to his bed, already aware of the fact that Plagg would keep quiet about this 'change'.

Change.

How was he changing? Was it a good change? A bad change? Was it even the truth or was Plagg trying to mess with him for whatever reason?

He threw himself on his bed and covered his body with the blanket, head laying on the soft pillow. His green eyes stared up at the dark ceiling of the room while new thoughts took form in his mind.

Adrien Agreste was the son of Gabriel Agreste, famous fashion designer. He needed to have a perfect image in public in order to prevent any strange scandals or rumors from his father and family name. He was supposed to follow his father's wishes - orders - without hesitation and without a word of disagreement. He couldn't change that.

In school, Adrien was one of the best students, with great notes - maybe not such a great attendance - and without causing any trouble in lessons or in interactions with other teenagers. He may not have a lot of friends there, but it was okay. The few ones he had were good ones, aside from Chloé obviously. He wasn't hated, but he also wasn't overly popular. He wouldn't want to change that.

As a model, Adrien always gave the photographers a good performance. He mastered his facial expressions and could adapt the exact look someone wanted from him in a single second. The outcome never received a lower response than 'acceptable' from his father, which was more than enough. It was better he wouldn't take a risk and change something about that.

Chat Noir was one-half of Paris' superhero-duo, the other half being Ladybug. Most of the time, he was overly confident and reckless. He made puns, joked around, and flirted with his partner, which he would love to be more for her than just a 'fighting partner' or 'friend'. But up until now, they were only partners in crime-fighting. While Chat distracted their opponent, Ladybug would think of the perfect plan to catch the Akuma and purify it. The only thing, he would want to change, was their relationship. But, other than that, he couldn't change something anything about it.

Also, if a change in his manner would cause Ladybug to worry about him, like today, he would never change anything about Chat Noir.

Adrien sighed and turned to his side. He closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep. He could think about everything tomorrow. That was a plan, wasn't it?

Maybe he shouldn't even think about it and just let it be? Do nothing and just live on? Nothing would change and so, automatically, nothing could go wrong either.

"I'm not allowed to change," Adrien murmured, half asleep.

Before his mind got completely off, he could hear Plagg's voice whisper something next to him.

"Nothing stops the inevitable."


	4. Standing Still

Chapter 04: **Standing Still**

When Adrien walked into the classroom on the next morning, he still couldn't decide what to do with his rampaging thoughts.

He had been fast asleep that night, which was actually not often the case and he should be grateful for that. But, just how his luck would have it, he felt like he didn't sleep at all.

The sun was brightly shining from the light blue morning sky on the busy streets of Paris, changing the temperature from 'Why-Am-I-Still-Shivering' cold to 'Spring-Is-Finally-On-It's-Way' warmth.

Normally, Adrien would've been thankful for this change. The days, were the side effects from his Miraculous wouldn't be so persisting anymore, came closer and closer. At the same time, however, it meant his sleepiness was caused from a completely different reason.

He _did_ get enough sleep, though.

So he cursed his inability to keep his own thoughts under control for this uncomfortable feeling, which was currently draining him out.

He couldn't remember what he dreamed about in the previous night, but he was almost certain it had to do with bluebell eyes that sparkled in the sunshine. After all, he knew his brain. Or he thought he did. But it honestly wouldn't surprise him if his guess was indeed correct if his first thoughts that morning were anything to go by.

In the end, it was easier to comprehend than this numb feeling in his chest, that made itself noticeable since he woke up and felt a strange sting in the corner of his eyes. This was not the first time Adrien's day started like that, but the boy hadn't been able to find an explanation for it for years by now, which caused him to just shrug it off and he refused to think about it again.

Maybe it was normal to feel like that from time to time. In the end, he did. So why not everyone else, too?

That didn't really help with the decision he had to make right now, though. After all, he couldn't stand forever in front of his and Nino's desk and stare at the black-haired girl in the second seat row, which was currently occupied in an attempt to calm her best friend down.

"They don't even pretend to think about it!" Alya complained, "Why won't they at least _consider_ my ideas? Well, Rose did, but we all know how she is."

Marinette smiled, but it was obvious that she wasn't really comfortable with their conversation topic. Although Adrien had yet to find out _what_ the topic was about. "You can't blame them," Marinette started, "I mean, the theme is 'fairy tale', right? And, well, Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't _exactly_ the fairy tail type?"

Alya shot her a betrayed glare, "So you're on their side, huh?"

"No, I just-" Marinette paused to search for the right words, "Their part of the _modern days_. That's not what you would expect from a fairy tale. Right?"

"Well, I don't care!" the auburn-haired girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked stubbornly away from her conversation partner.

"But the judges already know our theme," Marinette tried to reason, "It's a competition, Alya. You have to go with it."

Alya was silent for a moment before she slowly started to pout, "I know…"

Well, Adrien knew _now_ what they were talking about. But he didn't want to interfere.

Even though he would like to wish Marinette a good morning. More so since he knew that she wanted this contact to him. He didn't have to fear she would secretly want him to stop talking to her. She called him important, right?

At the same time, he wasn't sure if he should keep that contact. It had changed him for a whole day, after all. It was kind of… scary. He was confused, to say the least.

So, should he greet her? Ignore her? Behave as if yesterday never happened? Start a conversation? Be Adrien Agreste? Be school-Adrien? Be model-Adrien? Be Chat Noir?

 _What am I supposed to do?!_

In that moment, Marinette turned her head around. Bluebell met emerald green and Adrien's breath caught up in his throat.

The room went quiet for his ears. The sound of footsteps on the floor outside, or the near conversations of his classmates; everything stopped. Nothing reached his brain anymore.

And then, she smiled.

"Good morning, Adrien," her voice also brought the rest of the sounds around him back.

Well, that saved him from deciding. "Uh," Adrien searched for words, "Go-good morning… Marinette."

His gaze immediately turned away from hers and focused on the wooden desk in front of him. He stared at it for a few more seconds before he sat down in his seat with one abrupt move of his body.

Once seated down, Adrien heard the quiet sound of someone giggling. It came from behind him. And it sounded a lot like Alya's and Marinette's voices.

Were they laughing at him? Did he do something to embarrass himself without noticing? Should he not have greeted Marinette back? What was wrong? Why wouldn't they stop?

Adrien continued staring down at his desk, while his thoughts refused to stop their torture.

A new wave of thoughts and doubts started to wash over him when he suddenly felt a rather strong force nudging into his left shoulder. Adrien quickly looked up into Nino's grinning face, sitting beside him.

"Okay, dude. Why are the girls giggling like crazy?" he slightly tossed his head in their direction.

Adrien raised an eyebrow, turned around, and found Alya and Marinette still covering their mouths behind their hands, trying to stop the amused sounds that came out of them.

"Nino, you came too late," Alya playfully slapped the DJ on the back of his head, "You completely missed it!"

"Missed what?" Nino sounded curious.

From the corner of his eye, Adrien could see Marinette finally gaining control over her little outburst. A faint blush appeared on her cream-colored, freckled cheeks, and she started to concentrate her focus onto the sketchbook laying on her desk.

Could he try to get a look at it?

Adrien slowly started to stretch himself a bit in his seat, when his body suddenly fell completely numb from the new wisdom he just achieved.

Normally, he didn't like to eavesdrop if he wouldn't be able to without the side effects of his Miraculous. But once his name fell, it was impossible to get his concentration off of it. So when he caught Alya's voice whispering his name into Nino's ear, he couldn't stop himself before the rest of the sentence was out.

"-Adrien and he was stuttering over his reply, plus he blushed!" the tone of her voice sounded somewhat… smug. And he could practically _hear_ the spreading grin on her face.

Adrien's eyes were still focused on Marinette's open sketch book, but his mind was busy elsewhere.

First, when did he blush? He didn't notice something about a blush on his face!

Second- …they really _were_ laughing at him.

Cold filled his body and he felt his limbs grow stiff. It felt like he was captured in some kind of slow-motion, while he turned his sight back to the front of the classroom.

He wanted to point it out. Wanted to let them know he heard their quick exchange of words. He wanted to know why they made fun of a simple stutter of him. Marinette stuttered way more often - or rather had - and they never laughed about anything!

But how could he start about that?

He hadn't been part of that conversation and he certainly shouldn't have heard it. He actually wouldn't if it weren't for those stupid side effects.

Besides, none of his personalities dealt with those kinds of insult.

He couldn't bring it up. He couldn't voice his thoughts out loud.

He wasn't supposed to question his friends. He wasn't supposed to feel hurt by them.

He wouldn't allow those thoughts to get the better of him, too.

They could have a good reason for it, after all. Adrien knew neither Alya nor Nino would just make fun of people like they wanted to. They weren't Chloé. They must have a reason, so it was okay. He told himself that it was okay.

He was simply overreacting.

However, Marinette laughed together with Alya. Marinette, who called him an important person to her. This fact hurt him more than he thought it would for an unknown reason to him.

Adrien was yanked away from his thoughts when Nino spoke to him again, "Are you still insisting that there's nothing you have to tell me?" This smirk was back on his best friends face.

Maybe they were just trying to tease him. Yeah, that had to be their reason.

Teasing.

Both Nino and Alya loved to tease, Adrien already knew that. They did the same yesterday too, after all. This was just another tease.

 _See, Adrien? You don't have to worry about anything. Just forget it._

"I honestly don't have any idea what you could possibly be talking about," Adrien replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Dude, I know you're extremely oblivious, but… _come one_!" Nino gestured randomly towards Adrien.

"What?" confusion filled the tone of his voice.

Nino was silent for a moment. He just stared at Adrien, who could also feel Alya's gaze locked on him. Still, he didn't understand the meaning behind their words.

"Oh my God," Alya eventually broke the silence. Although, it was just a whisper. "He really doesn't have _any_ idea."

"Told you so," Nino whispered back.

 _What am I missing?_

"You guys are like that for two days now," Adrien said, still confused, "What happened?"

" _You_!" both suddenly screamed out in unison.

Adrien quickly leaned back from their dumbfounded expressions as if to escape their loud voices.

Why were they so shocked? What did he do wrong?

"Alya, Nino," Marinette looked up from her sketches and scowled in her friend's direction. The two addressed teenagers exchanged a short look between them, before muttering a fast "Sorry".

It didn't take long for Mme. Bustier to show up and start her lesson after that.

Adrien forced his attention on their teacher's explanations, though it was hard considering that Nino and Alya were back into their paper conversations with those smirks on their faces. What ever they were talking about, Adrien wasn't so sure if he would like to know about that.

He actually felt kind of relieved that neither of them would be present during the acting lessons in the afternoon. Even if Nino would still be in the sports hall, Adrien wouldn't have to talk to him.

His mind constantly tried to go back to Alya's whispered words in Nino's ear this morning. But Adrien already decided to forget about it. They were just teasing, right?

For what ever reason they would tease him, but… they didn't make fun of him. He hoped. They were only laughing about their next move or something.

Adrien was overreacting, he knew it.

When Mme. Bustier turned around to face the blackboard, an arm suddenly appeared in the corner of Adrien's right eye. The black sleeve on it looked like Marinette's and it throw a little pice of paper on his desk.

For a moment, Adrien just blinked at it. But when he looked over his shoulder to see if it really was from Marinette, she hid her face behind her text book. She did it pretty obvious, so Adrien had no doubt the paper came from _her_ and was addressed to _him_.

He quickly checked if Mme. Bustier was still facing the board before he took the paper and read the written letters on it.

「 _I am so sorry for Alya and Nino. That is probably my fault._ _I should not ha_ _Please do not think so much about it!_ 」

Adrien couldn't help himself but _stare_ at it.

Why would anything be her fault? If someone was responsiple for something, it was most likely him! Marinette shouldn't need to blame herself for anything.

And how did she even notice he thought about it? No one noticed it ever before when he was trying to forget about something. Did he lose the control over his expressions?

Wait, Marinette sat behind him. She wasn't able to see his face. If it weren't for that, how chould she possibly know?

Adrien cast a glance in Mme. Bustier's direction. She was still standing in front of the blackboard, back turned towards the classroom. It didn't seem like she would look behind her in the next few seconds.

He turned his upper body around to look at Marinette. She was staring back at him, still with the book in front of the rest of her face. She seemed nervous, but he couldn't think about that now.

Adrien let a smile spread over his lips while he silently mouthed the words 'thank you' to her.

Marinette blinked for a moment, but quickly straightened herself again in her seat and smiled back at him, blushing. She mouthed something on her own. 'Don't worry about it' if he saw it correct.

Adrien turned around, at the same moment as Mme. Bustier, and read Marinette's message again. Marinette felt bad about it. So even if they truly laughed over him, she didn't mean it like that. In fact, she thought it was even her fault. And while he was certain that Marinette did absolutly nothing wrong, he could be sure that he didn't either after that.

Somehow, Adrien was happy. This felt much better than to just shove it in the back of your head and pretend it never happened. Relieve took over him. Everything was fine.

Although, he still didn't understand it, something about Marinette's words was reassuring. He couldn't help himself but believe her.

He wanted to trust her.

After that, he was able to concentrade well better on the actual lesson.

Sometimes, in those hours until lunch break, he caught himself thinking about Marinette like he had the day before. But it didn't bother him so much anymore. And while it still felt wrong to call her a 'friend', he certainly didn't want to miss his interactions with her.

And so, two of his option for his behavior in front of Marinette fell away. He wouldn't ignore her and he wouldn't pretend like Tuesday never happened. Adrien still didn't know how exactly to approach her, but he'll figure that out soon enough. He had no problem fighting supervillians, after all. Talking to a cute girl from his class shouldn't be that much of a problem, either.

That last thought gave him confidence.

When the school bell chimed to announce the lunch break, Nino instantly turned to Adrien. "Do you think you can ditch another sheduled 'lunch at home'?" there was that smirk again.

Adrien quickly cast a glance to Alya and Marinette. The former's smirk was equal to Nino's. He had a flashback to their lunch on Monday and his eyes immediately flashed to Marinette with a questioning look in them. She just shrugged as an answer. He could still tell, that she had the same thought as him.

"We're going to Marinette's again," Alya suddenly added.

"We are?" a confused frown made itself noticable in Marinette's expression.

"Yeah! How could you forget that?" Alya gave her friend a light clap on the back. The tone of her voice indicated a further meaning behind it, but Adrien couldn't quiet catch what it was. All that he knew was, that Marinette didn't forget anything.

"Oh- Uh- Right-! We're, uh, going to me again," she smiled at him, though it was obvious she felt nervous. Adrien certainly didn't want to see her like that. She didn't seem comfortable with this, so he wouldn't push her to anything.

Besides, he wasn't so sure if he could handle another lunch with her in this situation. He knew, he would like to do that as soon as he found something acceptable for Marinette. But, as for now, he'd better find an excuse.

"I don't think I should risk that," Adrien started apologetically, gaze turned back to Nino, "Nathalie already covered me for Monday, father cancled my chinese and piano lessons for the play, and to be honest I don't want to push my luck too far." He laid a timid smile on his lips after that. The typical image of an innocent boy who followed the rules without hesitation.

It was quiet for a moment before he suddenly felt the urge to add something. His head jolted in Marinette's direction in a fast move. He hold his breath before he eventually said, "Although, I would really love to come along." He realized too late, that his voice exposed way more emotions in this sentence than he would've liked it.

And he couldn't even name all of those feelings.

Why did he say that? That wasn't necessary. If his father would be here, Adrien would've been scolded for that. Unnecessary things should never be voiced out loud, Gabriel had taught his son that very early in his life. With all those emotions in it, it had been even more unncessary.

Why did he look at Marinette while saying that, anyway? Nino was the one who asked him, not her! What was he doing?

He should just go home, eat lunch alone, try again to organzie his thoughts, and then spend the rest of the day with acting practice. Yes, good plan.

Adrien cleared his throat and glanced to a clock on the wall. "Well, I, uh, I better get going," he quickly grabbed his shoulder bag, "See you all tomorrow." Adrien left the classroom within seconds and walked to his car, which was waiting for him at the front door.

The Gorilla opened the door for him and when Adrien sat down in his usual seat in the back of the car, he finally released the breath he was holding with a sigh. When did he stop breathing?

A few minutes, after the Gorilla started the car and drove in the direction of the Agreste mansion, Plagg pulled the zipper of Adrien's bag beside him open. The kwami held Adrien's phone in his paws with a grumpy expression on his features. The screen showed a new message from Nino and to judge from Plagg's face, it most likely interrupted his sleep.

Adrien cast his little companion an apologetic look before he took his phone and unlocked the screen. Plagg zipped back into his hiding spot, probably to fall asleep again.

In the meantime, Adrien read Nino's message with a frown.

 **Nino, 12:42  
** _sooo… youre regretting to not eat lunch with us?_

Of course, he was regretting it. Adrien would always want to spend time with his friends. This was no exception. He just couldn't handle Marinette being there too, at the moment.

 **Adrien, 12:42  
** _You know me, Nino. Why that question?_

 **Nino, 12:43  
** _well you know maris here too_

 **Adrien, 12:43  
** _And?_

 **Nino, 12:43  
** _look_

A few seconds after Nino's last message, he send a photo of Marinette. She held a pink cupcake in her hands. Her face was stretched into a grimace and Adrien didn't need long to find the reason for it.

The tip of her nose was covered in pink frosting and the previous rose on top of the cupcake didn't seem so flawless anymore, like it probably had before Marinette tried to eat it.

Adrien couldn't stop an amused snort from making its way out of his throat.

 **Nino, 12:44  
** _isnt she adorable?_

 _She really is_ , he thought immediately. He wanted to be there, too. Just so he could tease her a little for it. Maybe she would start blushing after that. This rose-colored hue would fit perfectly with the color of the frosting.

But why was _Nino_ calling her adorable?

Adrien's frown deepened. He knew his best friend had a crush on her before, - and he absolutly couldn't blame him for that - but for whatever reason, it was bothering him right now. Even after Nino admitted it was just that, an unimportant teenage crush, and he would've much rather spend that day in the zoo with Alya instead.

 **Adrien, 12:44  
** _Does she know you took a photo of her?_

 **Nino, 12:45  
** _nope. be careful she wont see it after you saved it_

 **Adrien, 12:45  
** _That isn't the reason why I asked._

 **Nino, 12:45  
** _sure. enjoy your lunch witout an adorable, incapable of eating cupcakes marinette_

Adrien huffed, changed his phone to silent, - so Plagg wouldn't get disturbed again - and threw it back into his bag.

He knew Nino was just trying to somehow mess with him or something. Since Monday, his DJ friend had this habit of smirking to himself, asking Adrien strange questions out of nowhere, and mentioning Marinette every now and then. It didn't matter if he did it in person or through messages.

It was weird.

Granted, Nino had been talking about Marinette before. Never without a presumably good reason for it, though. So that made everything even more suspicious.

And then _Adrien_ got asked if some kind of realization hit him during the holidays. He could definitely ask Nino the exact same question.

Still, after he had seen that picture of Marinette, Adrien couldn't enjoy his lunch at least a little.

He sat alone on the long table in their dining room. His bag was placed on the chair next to him, so Plagg could join the boy for lunch.

They sat there in silence. Plagg swallowing camembert after camembert, while Adrien was poking the food on the plate in front of him. He knew their cook was a capable chef, but he couldn't bring himself to eat more than barely the half of his meal. It simply tasted like nothing at all.

"You're not going to eat that?" Plagg eventually spoke up, after the kwami observed his chosen's movements. He had lowered his voice, just in case someone was passing the door.

"No," Adrien answered with a sigh. He could feel Plagg's fixing gaze locked on him, but he just continued to poke.

"You know you can't eat a lot, kid, so you better take everything you get," Plagg said, "It's a model thing, right?"

"I'm not really hungry today," actually he was. But Plagg should stop talking about it and he didn't want to think about it.

"This is already one of the days were you're barely eating breakfast," the kwami floated to Adrien's food. He took one of the small tomatoes, which were presented as side dishes, and pressed it against Adrien's lips. "Eat!"

Adrien slightly shoved Plagg away, "I said, I'm not hungry. Since when do you even care?"

"Is a kwami not allowed to care about its chosen?" he countered.

Adrien stared at him, "And since when is that?"

Plagg stared back, considering his answer. Before he could say something, however, Gabriel's voice echoed through the hallway from the other side of the door. He was annoyed by something, Adrien could guess so much, but the boy stopped listening before the words of his father could make any sense.

Instead, he gestured to his shoulder bag. "Hide, Plagg, we're going," his voice was low and didn't betray any emotion unlike that unnecessary comment about an hour ago. Adrien already knew that he would spend the next few days blaming himself for it over and over again.

He wished, he could just turn that train of thought off or something. He didn't want to be constantly reminded of his failure.

Plagg obeyed the order without a single word falling from his lips. Adrien grabbed his bag, didn't give his food another glance, and made his way to the car. There was still a bit time left before the lunch break would be over, but he could just sit with the other students in the sports hall and wait.

Maybe Alina was already there. He didn't get to talk much to her yesterday, so why not now? She called him a friend, after all.

Of course, Chloé would be there too and he'd have to handle her behavior, but that was still better than to be at the same place as an outraged Gabriel Agreste. Besides, after Marinette stood up for him on Monday, - and told Chloé to back off around him - she actually stopped to push him against her and make him uncomfortable.

She was still Chloé Bourgeois - the spoiled mayor's daughter - and that wouldn't change so quickly, but that's a proof she's able to change, nonetheless.

 _Change, huh?_

Adrien looked out of the car's window, while they drove through the busy streets of Paris. His mind went back to the night before, repeating Plagg's words together with the image of that rare glint of wisdom in the kwami's bright green eyes.

" _You're changing,"_ was what he had said.

Adrien should think about that, shouldn't he? If Plagg's manner was anything to go by, he shouldn't just ignore it.

Yet, there was something in Adrien that stopped him from thinking. He already thought about all his behaviors and personalities last night. He didn't want to change, that's the conclusion he came to right before he fell asleep. He had to stop this change somehow.

If he'd only know _what_ was changing about him.

'You're' isn't a very accurate description. And the following attempt of an explanation wasn't really explaining, either. The only thing that was different that day, were his interactions with Marinette. But why would Marinette change him? He didn't want to stay away from her.

 _Marinette has nothing to do with this._

What else had Plagg said?

" _I can feel the more persistent emotions you have in that time,"_ and, _"You felt warmth today."_

What did that even mean? Sure, he _did_ feel warmth that night, but that wasn't the first time in general. Even though Plagg acted like that.

Granted, it was definitely a different kind of warmth than he had ever felt before, but… warmth was warmth, right?

 _That warmth belonged to Marinette and she doesn't have anything to do with it. This isn't getting me anywhere._

It was a few meters away from the school, when Adrien felt someone staring at him. It caused a shiver to go down his spine and he turned his head around. A bit too fast maybe, he felt dizzy for a second there, but he forgot about it as soon as his green eyes clashed with the knowing gaze that Plagg casted in his direction.

He was still well hidden in his chosen's bag, only his ears and eyes looked out, but it was enough to make Adrien holt his breath. Something was off. Even if Adrien had no idea about the things that were going on with himself, Plagg obviously did. And it made the boy uncomfortable.

 _Plagg is changing, too._

Adrien didn't like it. Plagg had to be grumpy and sarcastic. Lazy and a bit mischievous. Cheese loving and a little troublesome. Carefree and sometimes inconsiderate.

Not wise and knowing. Not observing and worried. And certainly not thoughtful and… and… …compassionate.

Another shiver made its way down Adrien's whole body. For a moment, he felt cold. Numb. Anxious.

Somehow… that look in Plagg's eyes… felt familiar…

Suddenly the kwami hid back into the bag within a single second, and it wasn't until he felt a cooling wind brush against his cheek, that Adrien realized the car had stopped and the Gorilla opened the door for him to get off. He quickly went the stairs up to the school entrance and practically ran to the sports hall.

He needed to distract himself from this. Everything was about to lose its meaning. A feeling of sorrow slowly filled his chest. This was not good. He'll start to think more and more about his mother again. He couldn't do that now.

Adrien pulled the door to the hall open, using a bit too much force. It crashed against the wall behind it, filling the hall with an echo of the impact. He made a grimace at the loud sound - things like that were almost torture with those side effects - before he properly looked around the big room. An equally loud gasp followed not long after.

The hall was full of different colored snakes, dragons, and horses. Plus a red chicken and a purple dog.

Some animals sat cuddled together in the corner of the room. Another rather yellow-colored horse dashed through the hall and threw the chairs against the floor, all the while neighing hysterically. A black snake stared at Adrien with fearful eyes and a brown dragon hovered protectively above it.

Adrien made a step back and saw along the hallway. There were several animals, too. His mind must've been too preoccupied to notice them.

Ladybug had been right the night before. He wasn't of any help if he let himself get caught up in thoughts. And he thought he made a decent job as a superhero?

Pathetic.

In that moment, the yellow horse crashed against the edge of the stage in the hall. The sound bringing Adrien back into reality, internally cursing himself again for being so oblivious to the things surrounding him.

This was obviously an Akuma attack. He had to hurry and find a good place to transform. Maybe Ladybug was already fighting the newest victim, she'd need his help.

He ran back the hallway he came from. A few untransformed students seemed to comfort their friends that got hit by whatever the Akuma was using to turn humans into animals. And dragons. He could think about that later.

First of all, he had to find a place to hide. A few teenagers and teachers already hid in the toilets, so that wasn't an option. The storage rooms were always locked. Maybe he could go into one of the classrooms? He'd just have to find an empty one and-

"Adrien Agreste!"

-shouldn't have his name being shouted through the whole school building by a strong and intimidating voice with Chinese accent. That would help a lot, actually.

Suddenly a big gray brick wall appeared in front of Adrien, cutting off his way. He almost bumped into it, but was able to stop the impact with his hands just in time. He recovered quickly only to notice that there was no way to escape.

 _Looks like the transformation got postponed. Might as well get a bit information about the first villain this week._

Adrien turned around and was greeted with the sight of a man, probably in his mid-thirties, facing the young boy in a well-practiced fighting stance.

The upper half of the man's face was hidden behind a red mask, decorated with twirling golden outlines. His suit was colored in the same shade of red, over his chest, his arms, and hands. It ended right above his waist, while the suit on his legs and feet was beige-colored. Both parts were decorated with the same golden line, drawing a flower-themed pattern on the light-reflecting fabric.

His hair had a brown-red-orange color-theme and spread wildly from his head.

He was wearing a bracelet around his left wrist, which seemed to be made of stone, and some kind of spin wheel attached to the other wrist. Adrien couldn't see its front side, but it was a circle and from what the mechanic on the Akuma's arm looked like, it was most likely able to spin around. For whatever use that might've been.

A red paper lantern was attached to an equally red belt around the villain's waist. It had the same golden flower-themed pattern on it as the man's suit.

The longer Adrien stared at the lantern the more it seemed a little out of place. And oddly familiar. As if he would see one like that on a regular basis… but where? Who kept Chinese looking lanterns with them? Did he knew the victim?

"Adrien Agreste," the man growled again with his Chinese accent. Well, the Akuma obviously knew _him_.

…wait, did _he_ cause this Akuma? He seemed to be angry at him, so it was a very high possibility. The only question was, how did he do that? Adrien was only once the reason for an Akuma attack - stupid jealously - and he actually would've liked it to stay by that number.

What superhero caused their own enemies, after all?

But Adrien had more important things to focus on right now. "Uhm, excuse me but," he held up his hands in a calming gesture and made a small step back, "Who are you again?" An apologetic expression took over his features.

"My name is China Spin," he moved his arm with the spin wheel in front of him. Every sign of the Chinese zodiac signs had its place on it. China Spin moved his left hand up to spin the wheel, while he finished his introduction in Chinese, " _And I'll make you pay for abandoning your education about this beautiful culture and language!_ "

Before he could activate any magical abilities, though, a red black-spotted yo-yo wrapped its string around his left wrist and stopped his motion. China Spin turned his head to the second floor on which Ladybug was standing, yo-yo string in hand and serious expression on her face.

Adrien almost greeted her with the usual nickname, but could turn it into a simple "Ladybug!" just in time.

The purple outline of a butterfly appeared around China Spin's face. "I need your Miraculous!" he demanded only seconds after the outline disappeared again.

Ladybug forcefully dragged at her yo-yo string. China Spin got yanked a few meters forward, unintentionally hitting his head against the brick wall he most likely created himself. Adrien took the chance and started to run off in the one direction that the wall didn't block off, when Ladybug suddenly landed in front of him, grabbed him around his waist, and hauled herself together with him back over the railing onto the second floor.

Everything happened so fast that Adrien couldn't quite register it until he felt Ladybug's hand firmly grabbing his wrist and dragging him through the upper hallway of the school.

Being rescued from Ladybug always felt… kind of wrong to Adrien. He was well aware of the fact that he couldn't do much in his civilian form and he'd be at the same risk and danger as any other person when it came to fighting supervillains. He needed protection like everyone else in that state.

Still, it was usually him who rescued his Lady from situations like this. Not the other way around. Besides, he had to transform. He couldn't run forever with her through the building.

"Uhm, Ladybug?" it was an awkward feeling, talking to her while he wasn't wearing the cat-suit, "I don't think he followed us."

Ladybug slightly slowed her tempo and looked over her shoulder, back into the direction they were running from. The hall was empty and no angry Akuma to be heard. The superheroine quickly directed them to the nearest classroom, still holding onto Adrien's wrist, and slamming the door shut behind them.

The light was dimmed, due to the closed curtains in front of the windows. Other than the two of them, no one seemed to be there. Perfect. Now he only needed to get Ladybug leave him alone and he could finally transform.

"Are you alright?" Ladybug asked after a short moment of silence between them.

"Uh, yeah," Adrien couldn't saw into her eyes, so he just stared at the wall behind her, "Thank you. That was close."

"I'm glad I could make it," she smiled, but didn't waste any time to turn serious again, "Have you any idea why that Akuma could be after you?"

"No," he shook his head.

It had to do something with China that was for sure. The only question was, what? How many people did he know that were related to China? Well, Marinette was half-Chinese, but she wasn't a thirty year old man. Neither was her mother and her granduncle already fell victim to Hawkmoth. He wasn't even in town anymore. So, who was left?

That paper lantern still felt so oddly familiar…

"It's my Chinese teacher," Adrien realized, "The Akuma has to be in the lantern around his waist. He has it from his last trip to China four years ago."

"Got it," Ladybug reached for her yo-yo, "You're friends are worried about you by the way."

"What?"

"They tried to contact you, but you didn't respond," she explained while opening the screen of her yo-yo.

Adrien followed her movements on the screen with his eyes, before her words finally reached his brain. He pulled his phone out of his bag. Nino had messaged him several times.

 _Right, I turned it to silent…_

He quickly read through the messages.

 **Nino, 13:01  
** _we are back at school but there are animals?_

 **Nino, 13:07  
** _tere dragons too!_

 **Nino, 13:07  
** _i think tis is a akuma attack_

 **Nino, 13:07  
** _you are better not coming dude_

 **Nino, 13:10  
** _dude you there?_

 **Nino, 13:13  
** _adrien?_

 **Nino, 13:21  
** _ladybug just came here. everything will be_

 **Nino, 13:21  
** _someone screamed your name_

 **Nino, 13:21  
** _you alright?_

 **Nino, 13:24  
** _say somethign_

…he seemed so worried about him…

"I'm going out to fight the Akuma," Ladybug stated. Adrien lifted his head up, just in time to look straight into her determind eyes. She laid her hands firmly on his shoulders as she started to speak again, "Promise me you'll stay here safe. You're not leaving this room."

Adrien could only manage a short nod. She was taking his breath away again.

"Tell your friends you're alright," she let go of him and turned towards the door, "Hopefully that stupid cat is finally there by now." That last sentence was only muttered, but Adrien could hear it, nonetheless.

He only stood there for another few seconds.

Plagg suddenly zipped into his field of view, "Kid, we have to go."

"Right," Adrien looked down at his phone again.

 **Adrien, 13:29  
** _I'm alright, don't worry. Ladybug saved me._

He wanted to put his phone back and finally join the Akuma battle, but a sudden thought kept him from doing so. He stared down at the phone in his hand. He could feel Plagg's gaze on him, but the kwami didn't interrupted his inner debate over this decision. Somehow he was worried…

Adrien started to type again.

 **Adrien, 13:30  
** _Is Marinette with you?_

His heart started to beat faster and he unknowingly held his breath. He was nervous over Nino's reply. What if she got hurt while they tried to find a hiding place? The Akuma could creat hard brick walls, after all.

 **Nino, 13:30  
** _she was but run off to search for you. didn t come back yet_

 **Nino, 13:30  
** _glad you are ok_

Adrien couldn't really read that second message. He immediately called out for Plagg, transformed into Chat Noir, and ran out of the classroom. If something happened to her, he'd blame himself for it.

Objectively speaking, this wasn't a very dangerous Akuma. They could turn out to be far worse than just turning people into animals and creating walls.

Chat was still worried, though.

His thoughts got interrupted by an incoming call from his Lady. He didn't stop running and just reached for his staff, answering the call.

"My Lad-"

"Where were you? Did you speak to someone like I told you?", the stern tone of her voice caused Chat to stop. He blinked at her serious face showed on the little screen in his staff. "Chat!"

He quickly cleared his throat, "Of course."

 _I didn't._

"I'll trust you on that."

 _Don't._

"I need you at the front doors of Collège Françoise Dupont."

 _I have to search for Marinette._

"Can you make it?"

 _I don't have time for that!_

Chat quickly looked around. He wasn't far away from the front doors. He'd be there fast. But Marinette-

 _She's just a normal citizien._

…right. As a superhero he needed to help everyone. Not just one person in particular. Marinette was no exeption on that. Chat wasn't even that close to her. He couldn't search for her now.

 _And Adrien isn't close, either._

No matter how much he would like it to be different. They weren't and maybe they never will. Even though she thought about him as important, and they both wanted to know the other, that didn't mean they could get along in the end.

Maybe everything would just stay like it had been. That wasn't so bad, right? He kind of liked the present.

 _I don't._

Yes, he did. And it would be fine. He could fulfill his duties as a superhero, go to school, model, and be the perfect son for his father. He could do that.

 _I can't._

Everything just had to stay like it was right now. Nothing had to change that way.

And Marinette didn't need to be handled any other way than a normal friend.

When Chat answered Ladybug's question, it was without hesitation and only a second later, "Be there in twenty seconds." He ended the call and began to run in the right direction.

He purposefully ignored the raising pain in his chest and the traitorous words in the back of his head, which tried to tell him _Marinette isn't a normal friend to you_.


End file.
